Take Two
by RetroHeim
Summary: Fem!Ryoma/Echizen Ryoma receives an invitation letter to Under 17 Training camp in Japan. Having conquered tournaments in the west, she flies back to Japan and set her sights in new heights. TokuRyo YukiRyoma FujiRyo
1. Chapter 1: The Return

**Take Two**

* * *

 _Summary: Echizen Ryoma receives an invitation letter to Under 17 Training camp in Japan. Having conquered tournaments in the west, she flies back to Japan and set her sights in new heights. TokuRyo YukiRyoma FujiRyo_

* * *

 **Chapter I: The Return**

New York  
Subway

A can of ponta dropped from the vending machine. A pale and delicate hand picked it up from the compartment and pulled the pull tab, opening the can. A female, around her early teens sipped from the can as she nonchalantly made her way downstairs. Golden orbs darted towards the huge clock displayed on the upper part of the wall just as it descended into the ledge and away from her view; her eyes widened when she registered the time.

" _Bound for JFK Airport, the door is closing."_

On cue, the sound of train whistles chiming seeped through her hearing and engines brimmed up; causing her to quickly react, grabbing her red tennis racquet from her bag and pulled out a yellow ball from her baggy short—she aimed precisely aimed at the whistle on the man's hand before it reached his lips, causing him to drop it before she proceeded to throw her racquet to the closing doors, successfully stopping it for a millisecond; just enough for her to slide in and removed the object preventing the doors to close completely.

This earnt surprised gasps and awe as the public stared at her due to her previous stunt. Some cheered, meanwhile others commented—but she tuned them out all the same. Until a black man pointed out that she dropped something and she allowed her gaze to drop onto the floor where a piece of crumpled envelope laid.

She inwardly sighed, picking the piece of paper up; humming as she was deep in thought. Her eyes darted to the address, eyes narrowing in nostalgia. Now she thinks about it, it has been months since she has seen them. She wonders if it was the right decision to go back at all, she could still fly to the Australian open after all.

' _Under 17 huh…might be interesting.'_

Then again, she could not shake off the nagging feeling in her gut. Yesterday. That hooded man at the building roof—the one who saved her from a ball she could have easily returned though. Her eyes met his amber ones.

He made his leave.

Unconsciously muttering out a small display of gratitude towards the black man, she looked outside the window. Well there weren't really anything she could do about it—for her train was already on the way to the airport, her ticket bound for her homeland.

Japan.

* * *

Japan

His eyes stared aimlessly towards the never-ending sea of mist and shadows of the forests passing by. Striking blue hues hid behind the lids as Fuji Shusuke sighed slightly when he heard two overly familiar boisterous voices of his second-year kouhais. _Again_ , he thought. The both somehow got into some argument over some pointless thing—not that they don't argue over the smallest things anyways.

It was trivial, Fuji mused; withdrawing to his previous thoughts when he was staring outside the bus. Oishi already took care of it, there was no need for him to step in. A small smirk tugged at the corner of his lips as he finally tuned his teammates out.

' _U-17…it is strange…'_ he pondered about the fact why middle schoolers this year were made an exemption. After all, this training camp are supposed to be for high schoolers.

He remembered the day their school received a letter from the said organization. Invited as a team after conquering the Nationals possibly earned them a word from recent witnesses and sponsors. They all discussed the matter and in the end, came to a conclusion—they were accepting it.

' _mah, I guess that's just how much our recent matches got acknowledged.'_

But speaking of team, if all of them received a letter; Fuji's mind drifted when a certain girl flashed in his mind. The tensai ignored the slight rush of warmth in his face when he remembered her striking cat-like golden hues, flowing dark emerald hair and the very person herself. Their resident freshman regular and the only female to ever compete in the boy's tennis competition.

He wonders if she also received it, and he wonders if she was also on her way to where he was currently headed.

' _Ryoma…'_ As much as the tensai hates to admit it; he _missed_ the girl. Echizen usually had this aura that just makes everything better when she was around, things were always interesting. Having her away at first did not bother the sadistic boy—but he never realized that after a month and a half, he would be dying to meet her again and just have her around to keep him entertained.

Days without her were _boring._

Several hours have passed and the engines came to a halt; awakening Fuji who dozed off. The brunette brushed his chestnut locks away from his forehead to back, sighing inwardly. Depressing to say the least—he had a rather nice dream consisting of one particular dark-haired tennis addict.

"You boys, we have arrived!" She bellowed, earning everyone's attention.

Sounds of clothes shuffling were heard and footsteps leaving the bus echoed. One by one, their feet touched concrete ground, gathered around at a wide parking lot with their coach waiting for them to recover their belongings from the luggage compartment.

"Jaa, I'll be leaving you boys off here now. You all do your best in this camp, I'm pretty sure this will be a good experience for all of you." She said, crossing her arms in front.

"I believe so, sensei. Thank you." Tezuka replied with his ever-usual serious tone.

"I suppose we should get going." Oishi smiled, everyone agreed.

They waved their coach goodbye and parted ways as they entered a pathway into the trees towards a big mechanical gate ahead. The team paused before the gate as it opened slowly, showing another longer dirt path leading to the main building. Fuji smiled to himself inwardly as he stared ahead, he was definitely looking forward to what's waiting for them.

"So this is the under-17 selection camp." Fuji stated.

"Look's pretty intense." Kawamura commented, a bit fazed.

"Is it really okay that we were invited here?" Oishi questioned, doubting their qualification for such a high level camp.

"0% okay." Inui fixed his glasses, for sure this was a bit odd in his thoughts as well.

"There should be a catch." Seigaku's data master muttered. "Until last year, no middle schooler had ever been invited to this camp after all."

Kikumaru was the first one to take a step, amazed at the view and climbed the pole near them. Oishi quickly scolded his partner before their usual sophomores were fighting over some trivial thing again. Oishi sighed , holding up Kikumaru's collar like a child.

"That's enough, you two. We didn't come here to fight now, did we?"

The two said rivals reluctantly stopped and opted to glare at each other before turning their backs to each other haughtily. Tezuka took that silence and began walking towards the main building. "Let's go." His teammates dutifully followed him.

Just as soon as they were near a clearing a few minutes later, two teens stopped them on their tracks, wearing suspicious grins. One had a cap on, wearing a triple colored uniform which they presumed to be for the selection members. The other one sported light brown hair, wearing an expression that clearly said they were up to something.

"hold up!" The capped on exclaimed.

"Isn't it you guys? The super middle schoolers who've been extended a special invitation to come here?"

The light haired one shifted on one leg and said in an arrogant manner, "I know you just got here, but there's actually a test." he smirked.

Fuji chuckled, he knew what these high schoolers were trying to do and the tensai fairly knew well that his fellow seniors had a good idea about what's to come. However, Kikumaru decided to play along the folly, resting his palms behind his head nonchalantly.

"A test?" He repeated.

"Ah." The capped one agreed in confirmation. Both older boys turned on their heels and gestured for them to follow them, and the rest complies and were led to a tennis court. The light haired boy took out three cans and placed two on each far corner of one side of the court and the other one at the middle in a triangular formation.

"Sou ka, I see what's going on." Fuji mumbled, smiling.

"You'll each get five balls. if you can knock over those three cans, you pass."

Seigaku members exchanged nonchalant looks as they shrugged it off, this was easy for them after all. Although they were a bit disappointed at their senior's behaviour. The capped guy observed their expressions, concluding the wrong idea what it could mean. He smirked creully at them, enjoying the looks he inflicted.

' _In the end, they're just middle schoolers_.' He thought in amusement.

"What's wrong? You don't look too happy." He taunted.

"If you can't even manage this, you don't belong here." The light haired one mocked.

Momoshiro had enough of the mockery, throwing a ball up to the air and smashed it dead center on his racquet. The ball flew across the court in a split second, harshly knocking off one can. _'That oughta shut them up.'_ The power player smirked to himself.

"Ohh, lucky! I got one!" He grinned. But more likely because of the two's shocked expressions.

"Jaa, here comes another one!" He announced, lobbing the ball to the air and hit the one of the left corner of the court. Then the next.

All of them took turns, each one successfully knocking over the cans with ease, catching the older boys off guard with their skills. Tezuka was the last one to hit before Fuji gave him one ball. Tezuka took the ball and moved forward to the service line.

"He only needs one ball." Fuji said.

Tezuka threw the ball above him, hitting the ball accurately with his racquet, aiming for the middle can. The ball bounce irregularly to the left can which caused the second can to fly over the right corner; knocking all three cans with one shot. The Seigaku regulars grinned, it was expected of their captain- he was good. Momoshiro and Kikumaru exchanged grins, pleased to shock the older boys.

"Jaa, Senpai- we'll be going now, since we passed." Momoshiro laughed.

The rest of the regulars begun to leave the court, wasting no time as they were eager to get to the main building-leaving two rather frozen high schoolers in their wake.

"Too bad! Try again next week!" Kikumaru recited his favourite line.

It wasn't long until they reached their destination. The newcomers were greeted with a sight to see. courts surrounded one building in the middle, the environment was built pretty well and clean-equipped with high end speed tracker machines and security cameras were everywhere. High schoolers wearing similar uniforms as the ones that appeared before them earlier were spread out to each court, stretching, playing, observing and other were training. Each section were accompanied by men uniformed in black, monitoring the players.

"It's the state of art huh." Fuji took in the surroundings.

It was definitely a different atmosphere than what they were used to- it was a bit unnerving. however, that was not enough to deter them at the very least- in fact, they were looking forward to it.

"This U-17 selection camp produces elite tennis players ready for the real world. The training is intense, over half of all the participants drop out within a week. It's said that promising athletes who fail here and give up on tennis completely. Although I'm not sure why we were summoned here," Tezuka turned to face his teammates.

"However, now that we're here, we'll see this through. All eight of us."

"All _eight_ , huh?" Momoshiro mumbled, his eyes downcast.

"If Echizen was here, there would be nine of us." He finished. His sentence affected everyone, but unbeknowingly more so, a certain tensai and captain of the team. Certainly, they did miss their youngest member of the team. She always was a center of attention, especially with her cocky attitude, and interesting antics.

" _i wonder where she is now…"_

* * *

Outside the Gates

A lone girl walked past the gates, calmly walking through the dirt path by herself while sipping on her can of Ponta. She wore a military green spaghetti top and black denim shorts along with a pair of white and black sneakers. A piece of green stone pendant hung around her neck and over her top was a black leather jacket. Her tennis bag hung around her lift shoulders as her piercing golden eyes bore ahead as she caught sight of a familiar yellow uniform, accompanied by gray uniforms. A small smirk made there way across her face, tilting the brim of her cap down and proceeded in a leisurely manner.

"Rikkai, Hyotei and the others huh?..." She whispered.

If the other teams were there; that would mean her own team; Seigaku was present in the camp as well. Echizen's eyes shone with amusement, it was a funny coincidence; but at the same time, was it really a coincidence? She let out a rare chuckle.

This should be interesting.

Echizen followed behind silently, not wanting to bother blending in with the lot ahead. She prefered to arrive at her own pace to be frank.

She arrived just in time the director announcing that three hundred were too many and thus, two hundred and fifty balls were dropped from a helicopter that passed by. The remaining who couldn't grab a ball was going to be disqualified. Her stoic eyes glinted as the high schoolers panicked and fought for the tennis balls. She saw her middle school peers acquire a ball or dozen with ease and the sight made her smirk.

Ryoma saw a lone ball laying innocently at the back and so, she took a small stone and held her racquet. She could hear the pathetic panicked cries from the high schoolers whilst looking for a spare ball.

' _Baka, there's one right behind you.'_ She thought. ' _Too bad that ball is mine though.'_ She prepared a basic stance.

"There's one!" Now all eyes were on _her_ ball. Ryoma reacted quickly and hit the stone towards the ball, causing it to bounce towards the air and the boys gaped.

She casually struts forward just under the ball and it landed on her left palm. Now all eyes were on her, she opened her golden eyes, her gaze landed on her captain then travelled to Hyotei, then Rikkaidai's captain and vice captain before she looked at the gaping expressions of the older teens. To her, they looked like fishes out of the water so she smirks sardonically.

"Cheers." She drawled, shifting her weight to her left leg.

From the bleachers, Yukimura smiled softly as he continues to observe. Momoshiro and Kikumaru didn't waste anymore time as soon as they registered that their kouhai was actually there, and they weren't dreaming. She was back. Momoshiro wrapped an arm around her neck and gave her a noogie like a happy older brother he is whilst Kikumaru glomped her from behind and rubbed his cheeks against her, causing her white cap to tilt out of place.

"Itai yo, Momo-senpai, Eiji-senpai." She groaned, annoyed at their harsh display of affection. As usual. These senpais didn't know the meaning of private space, but she was used to it so it wasn't that much big of a deal.

"Where have you been, Echizen!" Momoshiro exclaimed through his grin.

"That's right nya! You suddenly went MIA on us! That's mean y'know, Ochibi!" Kikumaru added.

"Senpai, I'm suffocating." She muttered, being crushed between the taller boys.

"That girl never changes." Yukimura said softly.

"Mattaku, her and her flashy entrances." Sanada said, crossing his arms with a small smile.

"As ought to be expected from Ore-sama's little cousin." Atobe huffed proudly.

Fuji neared the freshman along with Tezuka and Oishi. The blue eyed tensai smiled serenely, putting his right palm on her head and patted it. Ryoma scowled and took his hand away.

"Shūsuke-senpai." She acknowledged.

"Been awhile, Ryoma-Chan." He said calmly, but one could see he was also happy.

To Fuji, he resisted the urge to just wrap his arms around her and press her against him. He wanted to embrace her, but Fuji wasn't like that. He rarely gives hugs, save for the two moments that he did hug her during that time she needed comfort. So the tensai didn't, he kept his distance, for he was trying to control himself.

Ryoma's eyes left his and he felt a sense of loss. He still concluded he didn't like the way Ryoma's eyes held that glint of admiration whenever she looks at Tezuka, then again he remembers her words—so he fought back his jealousy.

Seigaku's captain held a smile one barely would notice for the tug was so insignificant. But to those who knew Tezuka, they could see the slight changes in his features. How his usual tense shoulders would relax the moment he saw her, his eyes gentle and soft.

"Buchou." His title escaped her lips, and Tezuka nodded with a hum.

"How was America?" He questioned stoically.

"It was good." She replied shortly.

"It's good to have you back, Echizen." Tezuka nods ever so slightly and Ryoma gave a smirk in return. Her cat-like eyes trained unto his amber ones.w

"Glad to be back, buchou."

"KOSHIMAE!" Ryoma flinched slightly at the familiar loud voice and sure enough, Tooyama Kintaro appeared before her. He wore an ear splitting grin, his aura oozing with excitement.

"Play a match with me!" He challenged. Ryoma gave a strained look, mentally shaking her head at the redhead.

"That's all you ever say." She mumbled.

"Maa maa, now there are _nine_ of us." Kikumaru grinned, "aren't you glad, Momo?"

Momoshiro turned his head away from his kouhai and mischievous senpai, embarrassed. "A-aah."

" _Allow me to explain the camp's system. This area are divided from court one to court sixteen, the lesser the number; the stronger the players. Everyday, before training begins, a shuffle match determined by the coaches will occur. The winner proceeds and the loser will be demoted. "_ the Director's voice echoed.

"Basically, to move ahead, we have to win these shuffle matches." Yukimura stated.

" _To those who have not succeeded in acquiring a ball, you may leave the camp."_

"DON'T FUCK WITH ME!" The tan blonde pompadour wearing boy roared. Veins popping on his forehead as he raged.

"YOU FUCKING KIDS SHOULDN'T HOG ALL THE BALLS TO YOURSELF!" He continues.

"There was never a rule that we shouldn't get more than one ball." Shiraishi answered.

"That's right! First come first serve!" Kintaro backed up.

"HAHAHA!" Kirihara cackled. "Too bad for you! Now get lost!"

"Don't get all cocky just because you happened to pick up a ball." The pompadour spat at them. He was relentless, Ryoma figured the guy wouldn't let them go just like that.

"All of this doesn't have to do will tennis skills. So I propose a match." He declared.

Ryoma unknowingly smirks, as expected. This high schooler seems to be pretty confident with his skills. But Ryoma knows just by looking at him that he wasn't up to their caliber.

"How persistent." Inui muttered under his breath, pushing his glasses up the nose bridge.

"Four-eyes!" He called out. Behind the crowd, Inui flinched, thinking it was himself that the high schooler called out. "I'll challenge you for your ball!"

Inui stood on cold feet as he looked at the lone ball in his hand. Ryoma shook her head at the situation her senpai got himself into and snatched the glasses owned by Shitenhouji's resident gay regular. She went unnoticed by everyone as each team's four eyes debated whether he meant them. Because for sure, there were six of them who wore glasses.

Ryoma casually walked towards the other end of the court and bent over the net.

"Oi! Stop fucking around—"

"Let's get this over with." Ryoma drawls out, earning everyone's stares. She opened her eyes and her stare bore through him in a bored manner, tilting the eye glasses down her nose with a cocky smirk; her right hand ready with her red racquet which the older Fuji had to admit— looked quite enticing.

On the sidelines, Koharu overreacted how he didn't notice how the girl snatched his eyeglasses away rather comically. The emerald haired girl took off the eyeglass and tossed it at Koharu who fortunately caught it.

" _Thanks."_ She said in her usual English accent.

The pompadour bared his teeth as he glared at the insolent girl before him. "You again? Get lost!"

"In any case, what is a girl doing here anyway?"

Ryoma yawned, tapping her racquet on her shoulder lightly. "You're all bark but no bite." She glanced at him cooly.

The enraged blonde flushed in utter humiliation at her words. His body shook and his face red as if he was about to erupt. However; before he could retort another word at the younger girl, a voice interrupted his flow.

"Sasabe." Ryoma's eyes fell on a tall bald teen wearing a purple flat cap.

"I'll take her on."

Another smirk crept on her face as she eyes her opponent.

' _This will be fun.'_

 _Fun to humiliate that is._

* * *

 _A/N: Chapter 1 is finished._

 _It would be appreciated if you would drop by a review so that I can improve on something I might be lacking whilst writing this. ;)_


	2. Chapter 2: A Friendly Match

**Take Two**

* * *

 _Description: Echizen Ryoma receives an invitation letter to Under 17 Training camp in Japan. Having conquered tournaments in the west, she flies back to Japan and set her sights in new heights. TokuRyo YukiRyoma FujiRyo_

* * *

 **Chapter II: A Friendly Match**

.

The first night came quickly after Ryoma plunged the crap out of the high schooler, Matsudaira. It had been an easy win for the girl- although it did not deter the remaining high schooler´s prejudice towards the newcomers. They proceeded to have themselves settled in the dormitory provided by the staff, each members of the schools scattered randomly.

Of course it was a given that Echizen Ryoma however, got placed in a room of her own. The staff was generous enough to take her gender into account after all- much to Ryoma's distaste for 'special treatment', but she relents. No matter how much she proves her skills on par with men, the sole reality of her own gender would always come to light in every aspect.

She scanned the whole room, eyes boring swiftly across the plain and simple room. A bed, a nightstand, cabinet, a study table and a lamp to accompany it with. For a second she wondered what a study table would be doing there, it's not like there were attending academics in this athlete's camp.

But she dare not mull over something so insignificant. She briefly notices that there weren't any other entrances, which meant- she would have to question the staff about it. She'd be damned if she used the same restrooms and showers as the boys.

' _Whatever_.'

Sighing dismissively to her thoughts, Ryoma threw her bag onto the made bed by the left corner of the room. Horio wouldn't be arriving until tomorrow she presumes, but she was prepared. The dark haired girl unzipped her tennis bag and fished out her extra clothes from the hidden compartment inside—she hasn't showered yet since her flight.

She took off her cap and plopped it on the bed as well, sliding off the hair tie around her ponytail, allowing her hair to flow freely over her shoulders and back. Changing into a more comfortable brown v-neck shirt, she exited her room in search for the staff.

The pillar of seigaku wandered aimlessly in the hallways a few minutes after. Looking to her left then right of the seemingly empty hallways, she sighed feeling a twinge of pain intruding her temples. At this time she wished she would just bump into her captain and ask for some aspirins that he usually would carry with him.

She refused to admit—even to herself—that Echizen Ryoma was once again, _lost_.

' _I swear to god…_ ' she refrained the urge to curse inwardly.

But then, all hope was not lost. Before she made a turn to trace back her steps; her sharp ears picked up muffled noise. She did not hesitate to follow it, hoping they might be what she was just looking for.

Peeking over to the right fork, she saw a familiar blue jumpsuit uniform mainly used by trackers. A sense of relief brushed in her, thinking that she would finally be able to have her answers soon.

"Ne," She calls out. The two men turned to her with recognition flashing in their eyes.

"Is there something we can help you with?" The polite looking man asked with pure hospitality in his voice.

"Aa, I was wondering if you happen to know any showers and restrooms I could use." She says dryly, coiling the back of her skull to give it a rub.

"As you can see...I can't really share the same facility with the boys." she tried to be at least polite in return to the initiative, it wouldn't hurt for once.

The man indeed noticed, judging by the light in his eyes.

"I believe you should speak with the coaches in this camp." The other one suggested.

"Ah, true. I wasn't really informed about your case as well, so best to talk to them. They act like the managers around her anyways."

"Aa…" But she did not know where.

As if he heard her concerns, the polite man offered, "If you don't know the way—we can show you to their office."

Ryoma carefully nods her head in agreement to signal them. The man motioned for her to follow him, accompanied by his co-worker. She was led to the second floor, passing by a commotion from the other end of a hallway. She pushed down her curiosity to focus at the task at hand.

They stopped in front of a door and the man knocks. A muffled voice answered, permitting them to enter the office only to reveal the giant that she saw earlier this afternoon. The man wearing a doctor's coat intertwined his fingers in front as he rests both elbows on the desk.

"Ahh, Echizen-kun." He enthused. "What brings you here?"

Ryoma silently studies the man for a good few seconds before speaking.

"I wasn't entirely informed which restroom I could use and bathe." she drawled.

"Oh!" The man separated his hands, blinking.

"I apologize for this inconvenience. I forgot to inform the staff about your case." his smile made its way back in his face.

" 's okay." she replied curtly.

"Well, since we weren't entirely prepared to divide the facility for this slight oddity—we settled to have you use our personal restroom and showers in fact." The man chuckled, standing up; pushing his chair in the process.

"Shall I escort you there?" He offered.

Ryoma narrowed her eyes, intimidated by the sheer height of this man. She was already having issues with her senpai's heights then this man easily towered everyone with his seven foot tall. She looked down ahead of her with a nod.

"If you will."

"All right, please follow me."

The walk to the restroom was not long. In fact, it was barely far from the office itself which is quite convenient since it was definitely near the stairs to the ground floor. The man, Itaru Saitō left her to her own accord after he showed her the way to which she mumbled a slight thanks in gratitude to the man whom she recalled, a coach.

After inspecting the whole bathroom to get familiarized, she recalled the man telling her she could use it immediately if she wanted to bathe since they all did so. Quickly finding her way back to her own room, she took the necessities and clothes then hastily returned to the bathroom—impatient to finally feel fresh once again.

Ryoma being herself;shower did not take long. A simple practice she usually does, she finished showering in less than fifteen minutes to say the least. After changing to fresh clothes, Ryoma allowed her wet hair to dangle freely whilst she snaked the towel over her neck.

Nothing felt better than the feeling of being fresh out of shower. She stared at herself at the mirror, _scratch_ _that_ ; a shower after a day's worth of practice was way _better_.

Smirking to herself, she exited the room and nonchalantly trudged through the hallways and back to her own room in order to return her used belongings. After doing so, she thought about spending her time doing at least something. She was bored out of her mind.

' _Also a bit thirsty, I want ponta…'_ she thought mindlessly as she searched for a vending machine.

She heard ruckus from familiar boisterous voices down the hallway. She made a face, quickly telling herself to turn back and walk away from the commotion. She was not getting smothered by her hyperactive sugar induced senpai and getting grappled by Momo-senpai as well. Not to mention she heard that loud voice which could only belong to Kintaro and many more of the other boys from the rival schools.

But somewhere above, someone definitely was not on her side.

"Ryoma-chan?" a recognizable soft voice belonging to a certain sadist made her stop on her tracks. Her eye twitched slightly, silently cursing the heavens for her luck.

Out of all the people, it had to be _him_ that found her.

"Ryoma-chan." He repeated, placing a hand on her shoulder. She turns around to look at him and saw curiosity evident on his face.

"F-Shūsuke -senpai." The old habit of calling the older one of the Fuji brothers with his first name still rang alien to Ryoma. Although it had been months since the first request, she had grown used to addressing each one of them respectively with surnames and nicknames—even _if_ she is more accustomed to American culture.

Fuji's curiosity turned into what seemed like his usual amused smile.

"Not planning to go there?" She knew what he meant by _there_.

"Betsuni, just feeling sleepy that's all." She lied, looking away.

"Eh..So you aren't planning to catch up with your _dear_ senpai's then?" He feigned mock hurt which almost made Ryoma roll her eyes at the emphasis of the word and simply because she _knew_ Fuji Shūsuke .

She grunted when she felt weight on herself, Fuji's arm over her shoulders.

"Get off, F-Shūsuke -senpai!" she grumbled but Fuji didn't comply.

"But I was actually looking forward to spend time with you, Ryo-chan." He smiled at her innocently just like he always try to come off to be, which he was far from it.

"I don't remember giving you permission to call me that, Shūsuke -senpai." Sheretorted.

"But I like the sound of it, _Ryo-chan_." Fuji repeated the nickname once again, causing her to shudder slightly at the sound of his voice.

He was back at it again, the _teasing_.

She could feel warmth rise up her cheeks as she realized the close proximity between them. Taking a step back in order to gain some space, she realized it was impossible when she remembered that Fuji had his arm around her.

"Shūsuke -senpai, you're too close." she grits out, glancing to the side in order to avoid his gaze. Geez, her senpai has gotten even weirder the past months since the start of the nationals.

Fuji merely chuckled and her eyes narrowed.

"Cute."

" _What_?"

Fuji leans away and straightens himself, but his hand remained.

"Saa, why don't we go to the others?" The tensai puts pressure on her back and she knew then that he was not taking 'no' for an answer.

"Can I at least get something to drink?" She sighs in defeat, giving in to her senpai's wishes. It was a rare occurrence, she usually never listens to anyone else aside from her captain.

"Of course, I'll tag along; was getting thirsty myself anyway.." Fuji beamed which made Ryoma look at the brunette dryly.

' _Damn this manipulative bastard…_ ' she thought scornfully, but to Fuji, it only looked like she was pouting.

begrudgingly being led towards a nearby vending machine, Ryoma chose her well-known favorite, Grape Ponta while Fuji got a bottled Iced Tea.

Fuji's gaze followed her every movement, studying her actions and taking in her image at the time. It felt like forever being so close and seeing her this close without anything to bother him.

It occurred to him that there was something very different about their 'ochibi' from the last time they caught sight of her. He couldn't put a finger on it, but as he watches her closely, he began to notice the subtle changes in her.

After a month of being away, Ryoma _matured._ although her height was painstakingly almost the same; having grown probably an inch or two; and he definitely did not miss the feminine changes in her gestures either.

When she bent down to fish her canned drink inside the compartment, Ryoma tucked her hair behind her ear elegantly away from her face when she fixed herself. A very feminine gesture that he never saw before.

Ryoma was still cocky and arrogant, but she held a certain amount of limit to her words. _Cheeky_ ; was the proper way to describe her these days. He figured this change was most likely unconscious though.

"—oto it will last longer."

"Hm?" Ryoma's voice brought him back to reality.

Ryoma stared at him with her usual bored look but there was a hint of...playfulness?

"I said, take a photo, it will last longer." She smirked.

"Saa...I can?" He replied, grinning. Ryoma's eyes twitched slightly as she gave the tensai a deadpan look. Fuji seemed to be a little _too_ enthusiastic about taking a photo.

"Che, nevermind." She looks away and turns around, walking back to the direction they came from.

"But you said I could." Fuji chuckled, following her.

"Is there something on my face, senpai?" She glanced at him.

"Mn?"

"You were staring, so I was wondering." She responded, opening the cap and drank.

"Saa, I wonder why."

"Mattaku," Ryoma groaned. "I think it's about time you start giving me direct answers, senpai."

"So, how have you been? You didn't keep in contact, it kind of hurt." Fuji mussitated.

"Not even a single text." He added.

"Betsuni...I was...busy." Ryoma answered, "Sorry I couldn't keep in contact."

Fuji stayed mum for awhile. Ryoma wonders then whether he was being mischievous or if he was truly hurt that she didn't bother to send him mail. She squints at the taller individual beside her trying to read his expression.

Fuji seemed...sullen.

' _Maybe he wasn't joking?...'_

" _Nanda_?" A smile returned to his face once again. "Finally falling for me, Ryo-chan?" Fuji teased, chuckling.

Warmth rushed to her face when she processed in his words. Just for a second there she thought Fuji was being serious, ' _I guess it was just him teasing again'_

"You can never stay serious can you, Shūsuke -senpai?" She grumbled, looking away with a huff.

Fuji merely simpered.

"Mada mada dane."

Upon reaching the main room, they could see most of the boys from each school lounging around. And specifically by lounging around, it was not in a relaxing manner—frankly it was the opposite of all words related to "relaxing".

At the middle settled Momoshiro and Kaidoh playing table tennis or also known as ping-pong versus Ibu and Kamio pair who apparently just scored a ball through her senpai's defense...if there was such a thing that is.

"Oi! You damned viper! That was my ball!"

"No! That was mine you idiot! Don't get in my way!"

"What did you say?!"

"Nyahaha! Shiraishi, they're amusing!" Kintarō hollered, laughing at the bickering pair.

"Che! I don't see why Ann-chan is so smitten with you!" Kamio insulted.

"Ehh? What's that got to do with this?!"

"Your doubles hasn't improved at all." Marui laughed, popping his mint bubblegum.

"Nya! Oishi! Look at this aquarium!" Kikumaru exclaimed, pushing his face against the aquarium attached to the wall with amazement.

"Kora, Eiji! Don't lean too much on it!"

On the far right corner, playing foosball with none other than Oshitari Kenya and Higa-chuu's captain, Kite Eishirō in a two on one game.

"Kahahaha! You idiots should just give up! This game is mine!" Kirihara howled in laughter.

"Like hell I'd let you!" Kenya growled, focusing on his own defense.

"You'd think I'd let you win just like this?" Kite mumbled with a scheming smirk, just then when the ball was on their side, Kite poke Kirihara on the sides who yelped in surprise—which in return; allowed them to score against him.

It continued that was for a few more games then..

"Kuso! Stop cheating, Kite!"

"Kirihara! Torundoru! You're losing your game!"

"Ahhh, fukubuchou, gomenasaiii!"

"You peasants are always so boisterous, ahn?" Atobe voiced out, brushing his hair away from his face while he faced Tezuka who was sitting right across him.

Tezuka meanwhile stayed silent and kept rubbing his temples, looking irked.

"It must be difficult for you, keeping control of your teammates." Atobe sympathized with his fellow captain who looked up and nodded stoically.

"Aa."

Yukimura who was sitting at the single seater chuckled as he looks over to the rowdy crowd with an amused glint in his eyes and a light grin across his usual serene face.

"Your teammates are a strange bunch, Tezuka. I'm surprised you can stand such commotion." The tousled haired teen almost laughed, but boiled it down to a mere smirk.

Tezuka crossed his arms and answered with a straight face, "I don't."

With a deadpan look, Ryoma's eyebrow twitched slightly at the ruckus caused by the boys. She concluded that she did _not_ want to be amongst this mess as well, so she turns around on her heels quickly,

"I change my mind, Shūsuke-senpai. I'm gone." She excused herself.

Fuji blocked her way and held onto her shoulder,

"Maa maa, Ryo-chan."

"Move out of the way _senpai_." She narrowed her eyes, but focused on being inconspicuous as well.

"NYAA, OCHIBI!"

"Too late." Fuji smiled.

 _Glomp_.

"Itai-yo, Eiji-senpai!"Ryoma whined, pushing the cat-boy away from her face.

"And stop rubbing your face against mine! What are you, a cat?!" She exclaimed, still attempting to wiggle out if his embrace.

"We missed you, Ochibi!" Kikumaru beamed, completely ignoring her remarks and still clung to her as if his dear life depended on it.

"G-Get off!" Ryoma huffed.

Usually, Fuji would have enjoyed to see someone suffer under these circumstances. Why? It was fun and interesting to see how people deal with different kinds of situations. Fuji's smile tightened, Ryoma's case however; was a bit too different than normal situations.

"Saa, Eiji...I think you need to let go of her soon enough, she might pass out soon if you don't ." Fuji said with a chilling smile, his friend spend a little too long in such close contact with _his_ Ryoma.

The cat-boy glanced at his friend and shuddered once he did. Kikumaru recognized that smile.

Kikumaru quickly released the girl from his grasps, laughing nervously.

"Ahahha...sure sure."

"Hwahh!" Ryoma gasped for air the moment her senpai released her from his bear hug.

"Oi, Ryoma, don't just stand there and come sit next to ore-sama!" Atobe called out to his cousin.

"Kei, seriously; you should denounce your usage of that god-forsaken self-addressing." Ryoma said, sighing as she walks over to the rounded couch and took a seat beside her captain.

Fuji wanted to follow suit but his little brother, Yūta challenged him for a table tennis match— to which he could not refuse. Hesitantly stopping on his tracks, he sighed inwardly in disappointment that he won't be able to be with the emerald-haired girl for too long.

"Uisu." She drawled out in acknowledgment to both Tezuka and Yukimura.

"Ryoma-chan, it's been awhile." Yukimura gives a small nod as he relaxed into the couch.

She smirked, "Indeed it has."

"Anh? Ore-sama told you to sit next to ore-sama, Ryoma. Why sit next to _him?"_ Atobe scowled, motioning for Tezuka with his nose.

"Because I don't want to be lumped in with you, Kei." Ryoma deadpanned and Atobe gaped.

"What do you mean by that?!"

"You being monkey king and all...cocky, arrogant, flamboyant entrances…" Ryoma begins to lists the reasons why, each time she names something she curls down a finger.

For each the finger curling down, Atobe looked flabbergasted at his own cousin. But then he quickly regained his regal composure and said,

"Blood is blood, Ryoma. I could say so the same for yourself, ahn?" Keigo shot back.

"I'm not as flashy as you though." She smirked.

"In a way you are." Eiji intercepted from behind, leaning over her shoulder from behind the couch.

She shot her senpai a dirty look, "You're supposed to be on my side, senpai."

"Bui!" Kikumaru stuck his tongue out at her and grinned.

"Sou da ne, you are flashy." Yukimura hums.

"Ehh, Seiichi-san too?" Ryoma's eyebrow twitched once again at the feeling of being the minority in the case.

"See, even they think so." Atobe laughed.

"Urusai! Monkey King!"

"Stop calling ore-sama with that name, brat!" Then the two glared daggers at each other to a point one could swear they saw electricity sparks from their eyes.

"You two get along well!" Yukimura pointed out, chuckling.

"Like hell we do, Seiichi-san!" Ryoma retorted.

" _Echizen_ , language." She winced at her captain's chastising voice and almost pouted, but Echizen Ryoma do not pout. So she opted to stay silent with a small ' _che'._

Meanwhile Atobe was getting sentimental as he looked at the current girl before him and remembered the little girl that used to follow him around.

"You're not cute anymore." Atobe sighed. Ryoma quirked an eyebrow at this statement.

"You're so bratty and cocky nowadays it makes ore-sama miss the sweet little girl that used to follow ore-sama around, challenging ore-sama for a tennis match and calling ore-sama, 'Kei-nii'." He sighed exasperatedly, slumping his shoulders.

"I never pegged you to be a siscon, Atobe." Yukimura smirked at the scene.

"Urusai, Monkey king! Stop talking 'bout the past!" Ryoma blushed at the embarrassing memory of her younger self.

"She's in her rebellious stage…"Atobe ignored, continuing his tirade. "What would Ryoga think?!"

"Ryoga? Who's that?" Ryoma raised an eyebrow at the unfamiliar name, she doesn't know anyone by the name of Ryoga.

"Anh? You don't recall?" Atobe shot her a questioning look.

"Am I _supposed_ to recall something?" She leaned against the couch, resting her chin against her hand.

Atobe seemed thoughtful for a moment before dismissing the matter which only irked Ryoma's attention even more. But she wasn't going to press on the matter anyway so she let it be.

"Ahh, koshimae! You're here!" Another weight was added against her head to which she knew who it was.

"Ngh, get off!" She swears, what's with redheads and hyperactiveness?!

"Na, Koshimae play a match with me!" He challenged enthusiastically.

"But I just took a shower." She answered blankly.

"Ehhh, it's fine isn't it?" Kinta whined.

"Maybe another time."

"Kora, Kin-chan; Echizen-chan doesn't want to play right now, besides; it's already late at night." Shiraishi scolded as the red-head pouted like a child.

Ryoma's head perked when she recalled something. _Matches_. Her eyes landed on the tousled blue haired teen beside her who noticed her gaze. Ryoma stared at him blankly for a second, deep in thought.

' _I want to play him again...been 2 months since I got a good match like he gave me…'_ Ryoma mused, ' _come to think of it...that rematch with Shūsuke -senpai hasn't been done yet either...'_

"-oma?" Yukimura's voice snapped her out of her mind. She blinked.

"Something wrong?" Rikkai's captain asked and Ryoma hummed, crossing her arms in front of her chest contemplating what to do. Just because Kintarō reminded her about matches, now her mind was filled with debate and she resisted the urge to blurt out something.

However; she couldn't control it.

"Seiichi-san...Can I speak with you in private?" Yukimura looked taken aback but nods anyway. Ryoma stands up, ignoring Atobe's protest with her and Yukimura's incoming _private_ chat.

The both of them left the lounge inconspicuously; it helped that the others were too occupied with their own group and activities as well.

Yukimura silently followed the girl into the hallway, stopping just beside a glass wall overlooking the tennis courts. He watched closely as the female before him pauses on her tracks and turns to him.

"What is it that you want to talk about?" He inquired, curious.

"Want to have a friendly match with me?" She said, straight to the point.

She smirked at him, but not as cocky as she usually would come off as. This was a part of Ryoma he would often see, both indoors when he was in the hospital; or those few moments during the courts.

Yukimura blinks for a seconds before a smile crept its way across his lips.

"I wouldn't mind, but a friendly match?"

"Yeah. Just a short one. I've been aching to play against you once again ever since the Nationals." She confessed, "ever since then, nobody ever really gave me the thrill I felt playing against you."

' _Except for one other person, that is.'_ She added as she thought of a certain brown haired tensai.

"I feel honoured for you to think of me that way." Yukimura chuckles, "Honestly, I've been wanting to do the same as well."

Ryoma nods, "Meet me at the courts in a few mins?"

Yukimura smirks,"You got a deal."

.

* * *

.

A Few Minutes Later

After fetching his racquet bag and changing into a suitable tracking pants and rubber shoes, Yukimura arrives at the courts. He drops his bag onto the ground against the fence, opening his bag to take out his own racquet.

"I was so sure I'd get here before you." A familiar voice came from behind.

"Mah, I didn't really need to change." He says back, straightening himself to look at her just in time as she drops her own bag beside his.

"I guess I was the only one who needed to." She chuckles, unzipping her own bag; taking out her own racquet as well and fixed her shoe laces.

"My ball or yours?" Yukimura asked, fiddling with one of the extra balls he usually carries in his bag.

"I don't really care." She replied, standing up.

"My ball then," He concluded with a small ' _yosh_ ' at the end.

As if on autopilot, the both of them chose their respective sides, standing in front of each other with only the net in between. Yukimura holds out his racquet upside down.

"Which?"

"Smooth." Ryoma says and Yukimura spun the racquet only for it to land where the end of the strings were protruding.

"Rough." Yukimura announced.

"Jaa, I'll be the first one to serve." He says as they walked back to the baseline.

He gets in position and studies his opponent across the field. Deep blue eyes met with golden for a brief second as he throws the ball in the air and hits it aiming to her right.

The ball was fast indeed, but not fast enough for Ryoma's eyesight. She reacted quickly; hitting it with a backhand stroke, sending it rapidly across the court.

"What's wrong, Seiichi-san! Your serve's slow!" She calls out.

Yukimura was quickly on it, as expected and hit it softly with a low lob.

"Everything has a purpose, Ryoma." He murmurs with a smile.

"Ahh, I see." She smirks, running to the front; just in time to revive the ball with another lob, skidding to stop.

Before she knew it, Yukimura was already at the front and did a cross, sending the ball rapidly near the baseline.

"15-love." He announced camly, but one could see the slight smirk he had on his lips and the glow in his eyes.

"Heh…" Ryoma looks at the ball laying lazily on her side of the court with amusement.

"Now that's what I'm talking about." She grins.

"Might want to up your game a little bit, _Ryo-chan._ Did travelling to America not do you any good at all?" Yukimura stated in a playful mock.

She narrowed her eyes at him, mirroring his mischievous smirk.

" _Yarou_ , I'll show you what I learnt since." She muttered, getting into position once again as she threw the ball to Yukimura who caught it.

Yukimura finally hit the ball with the same speed he had during the Nationals; it was no surprise to the both of them that Ryoma returned it with no problem at all which made Rikkai's renowned sadist to praise her.

"It seems you _did_ improve." He commented, as they rallied for the next point.

"Why thank you." She muttered sarcastically at him as she hit the ball aiming at Yukimura's wrist, taking him by surprise. The ball rebounded while his racquet fell to the ground.

' _Ah_!' His gaze rested on her airborne figure as she smashed the ball to the ground.

"Atobe Keigo's _Hametsue no Rondō,_ neh…" He muttered, picking up his racquet.

"15-all." She recites, hand on her hips; looking at him challengingly.

Yukimura faces her, both in a stare down. One sentence formed in their mind the moment they smirked at each other competitively.

' _It seems like this won't be such a simple match after all, not with him/her.'_ They both thought.

.

* * *

.

Lounge

"KOSHIMAE—Eh?"

Kintarō blinks as he turns to where the girl used to be only to find her missing. He turns to look at Atobe and Tezuka but they ignored him which left him confused. He scratches his head and says,

"She's gone."

His statement caught a few attention and then Marui who was previously entertained by Momoshiro and Kaidoh versus Kamio and Ibu looks to where he remembered his captain took seat.

But found him gone as well.

"Are?" He blew his gum and it popped.

"Yukimura-buchou's gone too."

"Ah!"

Fuji stopped playing his match with his brother the moment he heard the two were not present in the lounge, curiosity getting the best of him.

"Ore-sama thinks their private talk is taking a little too long." Atobe muttered, glaring at the exit where they disappeared off too.

"Aa." Tezuka nods in agreement.

"Private talk?" Kintarō repeated. "Who?"

"Ryoma and Yukimura." Atobe answered, sighing as he stood up from his seat.

"I'll go check up on them." He says, protective instincts alert. His mind was conjuring up different kinds of images, mostly unpleasant in regards to his little cousin and Rikkai's captain being alone together.

"Oiii!" Jirō bursts into the room with an excited expression plastered on his face.

"Geh! He's here!" Marui stepped back from his fanboy.

"Jirō, what's with all the commotion!" Atobe demanded.

"Listen, minna! Ryoma-chan and Yukimura are playing a match right now!" He exclaimed.

"What?" Tezuka looked surprised along with the others.

"EH? Yukimira-buchou and Echizen?!" Kirihara yelled.

"NANI?! THAT'S SO UNFAIR!" Kintarō proclaimed at the fact that he was rejected but then later on the rookie of the East is playing a match in the end.

"Nyaaa! Oishi! Lets goooo!" The hyperactive acrobat dragged his partner, leaving to watch their Ochibi's match.

"Ahh! I'm coming with!" Kintarō dashed out.

"Kin-chan, wait up!" Kenya and Shiraishi follows.

"Saa...No wonder they took long." Fuji stated almost sarcastically to himself, opening his eyes.

' _Geh! Aniki opened his eyes!'_ Yūta thought nervously.

"Should we watch the show, Yūta?" Fuji smiles at his brother, motioning to leave as well.

"A-Aa." He nods and they both left.

Atobe and Tezuka exchanged looks and decided to see for themselves as well. Meanwhile Kirihara went along with Sanada, Marui and Jackal. Kaidoh and Momoshiro stopped fighting the moment Jirō announced the event and followed their captain. Inui was silent all along at the corner, planning for another masterpiece—mainly his poisonous drinks— silently trudged; it was a good chance to get more data, he thought.

One by one, all of them marched towards the court and left the lounge empty.

…

When all of them arrived at the courts, they saw Ryoma perform a smash they never seen before and scoring a point against Yukimura.

"4 games all." She says calmly, moving back to the baseline.

Yukimura whistles in awe at the new technique he just witnessed from the girl who wasted no time and lobbed the ball only for it to vanish to Yukimura's side.

"Keep your head in the game, Seiichi-san." She smirks playfully.

At the sidelines, Momoshiro and the others looked shocked at what they witnessed.

"Uso! That serve was fast!"

"I-I think that was as fast as my waterfall…" Inui stuttered, gawking.

"15-0."

"Heh...So you haven't even used 80% of your strength, formidable." Yukimura smirks in return, hitting another ball.

"Jaa, take this!"

This time Ryoma hits the ball, equally as fast as the ball she hit previously; but Yukimura quickly adjusted to the pace and returned it.

"As expected from you!" She says, running towards the ball and returns it.

They began a rally once more, not aware of the audience that arrived at the sidelines; both too focused on their opponent— and more importantly—they had fun; even though Yukimura did not realize this fact.

"They're enjoying this." Sanada stated, his eyes boring into his childhood friend's face. He never saw that look in Yukimura before, the smile that adorned his features as he hits the ball back to Ryoma.

"Indeed they are." Yanagi seconds his opinion, watching closely as well.

After earning points alternatively, they came to a tie breaker. They began to rally once more, both refusing to pull anymore techniques against each other for some reason they couldn't understand.

"I'm taking this game!" Ryoma exclaimed, hitting the ball inches below the edge if the net. For a moment it paused on the spot before it started spinning rapidly towards the edge, ultimately falling down on Yukimura's side of the court.

"5 games to 4."

"Woahh! Ochibi earnt the game!" Kikumaru shouted in excitement.

This was the moment that the duo noticed their audience. They turned to look at them for a moment before Yukimura sighed, shifting his weight on one leg with a shrug.

"Seems like we got quite the audience."

"How long have they been there?" Ryoma muttered.

"You're so unfair, Koshimae!" Kintarō yelled at her, almost pouting.

Ryoma blinked then turned away from them to face Yukimura, as if caught guilty. Then Yukimura realizes that Kintarō has been nagging her for a match only for her to turn him down immediately; yet here she was playing with him.

"Let's continue." Ryoma mumbled enough for him to hear. He gave her a nod, then begins the match again. It was now Ryoma's service game so Yukimura was on guard.

 _PAK_!

The ball projectiled towards his left. Yukimura hits it but then narrows his eyes the moment his strings made contact with the ball.

' _What's with this heavy ball?'_ He thought, returning the ball with a grunt.

His gaze quickly caught Ryoma's form running to the net and he realized instantly what's going on in her mind that very moment.

' _I see what you're trying to do…'_ Yukimura thought.

Ryoma held her grip with both hands and hit the ball forcefully.

"—But that's way too naïve!" Yukimura exclaimed.

The dark-haired girl's golden eyes widened when the ball flew past her. She narrows her eyes as soon as it came and hummed, walking away.

' _Playing with me like that won't get you anywhere, Ryoma.'_ Yukimura mused, watching the girl closely.

Ryoma looked...perturbed. She looks down at her racquet, seemingly in turmoil inside; however, afterwards— she links her gaze to his, eyes looking serious.

"You really are...amazing." She whispers to herself; but it was because he was carefully watching her—That he knew what she said.

Yukimura did not respond, instead he braces himself for another serve.

The game continued that way, rallying occasionally. However; the onlookers could not shake off the weird feeling they got when they watched Echizen Ryoma play a style similar to Yukimura's. Practical, and basic.

Still, even if it was; the match was still amazing. Most of the onlookers understood that the level they were playing was way advanced than they could ever achieve at the moment.

In the end, Yukimura took two games in a row, with Ryoma stealing points but failed to steal a game.

Both players relaxed, standing straight as they huffed to catch their breath. Both breaking a sweat, staring at each other for what seemed like forever to everyone.

Ryoma exhales, then smiled a little.

"I lost."

"You could have had a chance to win." Yukimura countered.

They both walked towards the net, "I could have...but that just applies to you as well." She responded.

Yukimura holds out his hand for a shake to which she took gratefully. The blue haired captain held her hand with a slight pressure, holding onto it tightly; but not enough to hurt.

"It was a good game."

"I couldn't agree more." She says back, studying Yukimura's mirthful smile. Not too long later, she snapped herself back to reality and makes a move to turn around with another sigh, intending to end the handshake.

But she couldn't. Yukimura still held onto her hand.

"Seiichi-san?"

"Why—why did you not use the Pinnacle of Perfection?" He asked, pursing his lips into a thin line.

Ryoma blinks, looking at Yukimura's quizzical look. She merely gave a half smirk and answered,

"Why didn't you use yips on me?" She answered him with another question.

It was now Yukimura's turn to be taken aback by her question. He moved his lips but no voice came out. At a loss for words, Yukimura sighs dejectedly ; letting go of her hand.

She was right, why _didn't_ he use yips on her? It was a question Yukimura mulled over but thought of an answer quickly. But it was a secret that only he will ever know, aside if anyone else would realize on their own.

His dark blue eyes followed her retreating back towards the spot where they left their bag and begins to walk to her direction as well.

' _That's right...I'm afraid.'_ He reflected.

 _Afraid of what?_ A voice in the back of his mind voiced out.

He stares solemnly at her who noticed his stare. Ryoma shot him a small satisfied grin after sipping from her own jug.

He returns the smile; although albeit unsure, tuning out everyone's cheers.

'— _Afraid that my tennis will hurt her.'_

 _._

* * *

 _A/N: Chapter 2 done. Hope you enjoyed!_

 _Yahh, I had troubles writing off the match! We finally get to know a little bit on Yukimura's side and saw some FujiRyo interaction. lol! I know Ryoma is a bit cold, but isn't he always like that? In fact, I made him a bit more showy of emotions since he is a girl. But still I tried to keep his original persona. haha!_


	3. Chapter 3: Matches of Resolve

**Take Two**

* * *

 _Description: Echizen Ryoma receives an invitation letter to Under 17 Training camp in Japan. Having conquered tournaments in the west, she flies back to Japan and set her sights in new heights. TokuRyo YukiRyo_ ma _FujiRyo_

* * *

 **Chapter III: Matches of resolve**

Outside camp

Never have once anyone treated him this way. His eye twitched dangerously in sheer irritation regarding his current situation as he heaved the heavy sports bag around his shoulder and adjusted the other bag his other hand was supporting. Horio grit his teeth, breathing heavily. He opted to stop on his tracks and straightened his back trying to catch his breath.

"Argh! For real though, that Echizen! She's such a slave driver!"

The female had managed to call him last night when she arrived in Japan and 'asked' him a favour if he could go to her house and deliver her belongings to the camp. Horio grimaced and breathed deeply as he remembered how the girl more likely ordered him than asked him.

Given that he didn't have anything better to do for the day after school, the girl surely was no pushover. She was a demon! She gave him no chance to say his part leaving him with no options but to comply to her request or else she was going to have to give him a hellish training regime.

He could just imagine her devilish smirk and her piercing glare boring through his very soul if he didn't do as she said. Her voice that time at the other line laced with frightening levels of sweetness it almost reminded him of Fuji-senpai.

' _I swear, Fuji-senpai is rubbing off her.'_

Horio came to a halt, his unibrow crumpled at the middle of his temple as he stared at the gates in front of him. He took out his phone and dialed the said girl but she wasn't answering.

The tennis freshman dialed her number for the second time in hopes she would answer but it was futile— as well as his third or fourth call. Horio heaved deeply, scratching his cheek worriedly. Was he going to have to wait here for hours until Echizen answers or should he call Momo-senpai?

"Ahh how am I supposed to give her belongings if I can't even get in?"

He pondered for a moment before he decided to call the sophomore regular. Searching for the older boy's number, before he could press 'call',

"Hey you!" The voice startled Horio who quickly turned around and bowed, clasping his hands together in an apologetic manner as if he was just caught doing something he isn't supposed to be doing.

"Hiie! I'm so sorry! Please forgive me!" He exclaims, "I promise I have a good reason to be here!"

"I'm not doing anything shady or anything like that!" Horio looked up and faltered when he saw a familiar blue-haired bandana wearing freshman smiling down at him playfully.

"What the— aren't you…" he trailed off, pointing at the amused boy.

"Yamabuki Middle School freshman, Dan Taichi." He finished. "What are you doing here?" Horio asked. Dan fished out something from his pocket, it was a charm.

"I'm here to give Akutsu-senpai his charm. He forgot it." Dan explained.

"Sou ka," Dan's eyes landed on the bags he was carrying. "How bout you?"

"A certain female slave driver ordered me to deliver her stuff to her." Horio scowled.

"You mean, Echizen-chan?" Dan laughed.

"I don't wonder how you guessed it at all." Horio shot back.

"Well, she's always been in command. Hard to refuse." Dan sweatdropped as he remembered one time he was under the said girl's command.

"She's scary."

"I know! That's why even I'm so pissed off right now I can't do anything about it! I'd rather treasure my life thanks." Horio said in a exasperated sigh.

"Somehow, I feel for you." Dan chuckled nervously. He wouldn't want to be in his position.

"Dan-san! Dan-san!" Another voice called out inside the tree area. Both Dan and Horio turned towards the direction it came from and one gingerhead freshman came to view, Horio mused.

"I found a hole that could take us inside- de ansu!" He claimed fervently. Horio noted that the boy was wearing a Rikkaidai uniform.

"Really?!" Dan said, "Let's go check it out!"

"Huh?" Horio blinked. Dan noticed that Horio probably hasn't met him so he took the liberty of introducing the boy.

"He's Uruyama Shiita, from Rikkai. I happened to meet him here as well." He told Horio then turned to Uruyama.

"He is Horio-kun, one of the Seigaku cheerleading Trio." Dan grinned.

"Oi! Who the hell are you calling 'cheerleading trio'?!" Horio protested but Dan completely ignored his retort and continued.

"Saa, Uruyama-kun; where's this hole you're talking about?" Horio almost wanted to sulk in some corner due to the fact he was called a cheerleader, but he opted to pay attention and follow the two freshmen into the woods.

* * *

Courts

It was morning and right off the bat, their first shuffle match came to light. At court five, Momoshiro Takeshi vs. Oni Jujiro. Nobody overestimated themselves, but they were confident that their Seigaku tennis regular power player would do at least decently against this big brute.

Nobody underestimated Oni Jujiro either, they knew by their senses that he was no ordinary high schooler, but never have they imagined the sheer difference in skill and power between the two until they saw Momoshiro Takeshi being plummeted to the ground by another power player.

Both were jack knife users, but they did not possess the same amount of power and execution to the technique. Oni Jujiro overpowered Momoshiro with his Black Jack Knife and numbed his hands in the process, rendering Momoshiro unable to hold his racquet.

The middle schoolers, save for the captains and vice-captains felt an unnecessary amount of overwhelming feeling as they saw him struggling to return a shot. His opponent did not go easy on him so to say.

Oishi fretted by the sidelines, the mother hen worried for his kouhai. "Momoshiro! Stop it! There's no point struggling, it will only worsen your wrist!" He yelled.

"He's right Momo! It might be irreversible if you continue!" Kikumaru added.

But Momoshiro wasn't having any of it. He looked over at them but did not vocally answer his thoughts and looked ahead, determined.

 _'I'm sorry senpai-tachi. But if I forfeit right now, they'll never take us all seriously_.' It was a matter of pride to him.

Ryoma's cat-like eyes narrowed as she saw her senpai's eyes. She knew that look. As if she could read his mind, Ryoma clenched her fists inside her jacket's pockets.

"That idiot." Ryoma muttered. She knew what was going through his mind, Momoshiro Takeshi has always been the prideful guy, especially when it came to power play or when it came to protecting their dignity. She knew Momoshiro pushed this hard to show that they weren't here to play around and should not be underestimated in any means.

She watches as Oni hit another fast ball towards Momoshiro's left and her senpai struggled to hit it with all his might but the ball was too powerful and it sent Momoshiro falling to his rear.

Ryoma concluded. This was idiotic.

"Momo-senpai!" She said, loud enough for her voice to be heard. She gained attention from her fellow teammates and rival schools and everyone shivered at the cold glare her golden eyes emitted. Her eyes were shadowed by the brim of her cap and it glinted dangerously as if a dangerous aura were surrounding her. Most of the boys stepped away a little bit, sensing danger.

 _'SHE'S MAD!?'_ They all thought.

Momoshiro shivered at her glare and could feel his palms sweating in fear, 'she's angry!' Now Momoshiro thinks who he should be afraid more, Oni-san or his kouhai.

"H-hai?" Momoshiro answered, albeit unsure.

Ryoma looked down at him with her threatening glare. " _Do you think it's all worth it to ruin your fucking wrists just to show we shouldn't be underestimated?"_ She asked in a rather low voice. Her voice was icy and for a moment, they all felt sorry for Momoshiro. Not because he was being a martyr to prove the high schoolers wrong, but because they knew she will have to face Ryoma's wrath after this.

"W-what?" Momoshiro stuttered. He didn't understand a single word Echizen just said.

"Are? What did ochibi say?" Kikumaru cowered behind his partner.

" 'Do you think it's all worth it to ruin your fucking wrists to show we shouldn't be underestimated?'" Yagyuu pushed his eyeglasses to his nose bridge, his eyeglasses glinting. "Or somewhat like that."

"Saa, Ryoma-chan's got quite the potty mouth as always." Fuji chuckled.

Ryoma noticed her blunder but still continued to stare her senpai down. She always had a tendency to speak in English whenever she was very angry. English usually came naturally to her than Japanese.

"So? Do you think it's worth it?" She repeated, this time with less fervor.

Momoshiro stepped back, unable to answer for a millisecond, but he stood up on his ground and said, "If you're afraid of me ruining my wrists, it will be fine Echizen." Momoshiro stared straight into her eyes.

The usually close kouhai and senpai commenced a glaring contest before Ryoma heaved a sigh, crossing her arms across her chest and shaking her head sideways in disapproval.

"Just promise me you won't ruin your wrist." She looked at him with a glare. "Or else I will personally castrate you." Her voice laced with venom.

The boys turned blue in fear, backing off from her. Even the stoic Tezuka got shook by her statement and backed a step away from her. All the boys gulped.

' _SHE'S A DEMON!'_ They chorused.

'I _forgot how terrifying she could be.'_ Tezuka thought.

"I promise, Echizen." Momoshiro said with finality then turned around on his heels, facing Oni.

"Momoshiro Takeshi, to serve!"

On the upper bleachers, Rikkai's big three observed, impressed by Oni Jujiro's skills and calmly judging the match.

"How unfortunate. A Jack Knife user facing off against a user of the same technique that has more than twice power and precision." Sanada states.

"Hm, no, it might not be luck." Yukimura countered. "If the coaches planned this…" he trails off. Sanada gave him a look, seeming to completely understand what he was trying to say.

By the middle part of the bleachers, Atobe Keigo twirled his bangs, frowning at the match. "If their initial intention was to shut us up, I think they partly did well on it." He said.

Oshitari Yuushi scoffed, smirking. "Yeah but Momoshiro is a different story."

They continued to watch on as Oni hit a powerful cross to which Momoshiro charged head on, gripping his racquet with both hands in an attempt to hit back. Oni's eyes widened slightly in surprise at this.

"He can still hold it?!" He muttered.

 _'I just can't lose here..'_

 _'If I lose, they just won't take any of the middle schoolers here seriously!'_ He kept chanting inside his mind. Momoshiro jumped, forming a Jack Knife stance.

' _Just one ball. That's all I need.'_

 _PAK_!

Oni jumped in front of Momoshiro, countering his ball with his Black Jack Knife, successfully landing it in the court and earning a match point.

"Game and match Oni, 6-love!"

The air was solemn, but most of them had expected this outcome already. Momoshiro laid flat on the ground, panting for air, incredibly exhausted. His wrists were on fire. Oni looked on at him with a thoughtful look, his eyes shifted to his own racquet. Oni blinked in surprise, he didn't expect this— but seeing his racquet string being worn out and snapped, it proved how strong the boy was.

 _'He broke my strings with that Last shot.'_ He looked back at him. 'This kid…'

"What's your name kid?" This boy deserved his respect. He was better than any of these blabbering maggots who couldn't get past court five.

"Momoshiro….haa...Takeshi...haa.." Momoshiro answered between breaths.

Oni begins to leave the court but paused for a moment, there was one thing he needs to say.

"Work your way up, Momoshiro Takeshi!"

And that was meant to be a challenge.

He will be here, in court five— waiting for him to grow.

...

After that little show of mutual respect, the Seigaku members rushed to his side. Ryoma was about to do the same but something; rather someone stopped her on her tracks.

"How pathetic." Her eyes narrowed at two high schoolers to her left.

"Well, this is all middle schoolers can do." They had this scornful smirk, laughing quietly to themselves.

"They're years away from standing a chance against us high schoolers." They snickered under their breaths.

That did it. Ryoma was ticked off, these boys were over their heads. She clicked her tongue at them with a scowl, her glare threatening. She pointed her racquet at them, "You're strongest is that Tokugawa right?"

They clammed up completely.

Ryoma refrained to roll her eyes before walking away in search for a certain blue haired stoic high schooler. Damn it. She's beyond pissed, and the only thing she can do to ease it is to beat Tokugawa.

Just thinking bout that stoic boy caused her eyebrow to twitch in utter irritation. Oh how she remembered the first time she met him. It was yesterday. His condescending frown, and stoic look. As if he was superior, and how he completely shut her off— the very thought of him irked her.

Flashback

 _Sasabe could not accept his defeat with one middle schooler after another. His last defeat with Sanada resulting his racquet to get knocked away and strings snapping, he yelled out to his fellow high schoolers to lend him one. He was pathetic, Ryoma gave him that._

 _An authoritative rough voice called out to them to stop. He asked Sasabe to leave and chastised that he should accept defeat and should not act pathetically._

 _The high schoolers who could not accept their injustice disqualification hesitantly left the field. As if these three people who showed up were top dogs._

 _"You're leaving?! Wait!" Kintaro yelled after them._

 _"I haven't had my match yet!"_

 _"Sorry about that." A short bespectacled male said. "You can't play matches here without permission."_

 _"If you want to play against us, win your shuffle matches." A red haired brute stated while the blue haired stoic stayed silent._

 _"Don't be ridiculous! You high schoolers started it!" Akutsu spat at them._

 _"Just so you know, the scums that you played against were all court ten or lower. " the redhead informed them, looking at them with his amber eyes._

 _"Don't get ahead of yourselves." He finished before all three turned around to walk away._

 _"Then what court are you, redhead." Akutsu muttered. "I'll crush you right now."_

 _The redhead looked over his shoulder, "Don't get ahead of yourself." He growled out in a warning tone._

 _"Who do you think you're ordering around?" Akutsu growled back, glowering while the others tried to convince him to calm down._

 _"I'm Irie Kanata, Court three." The bespectacled feminine boy answered with his usual soft tone._

 _"Court five, Oni Jujiro." The redhead brute followed up then quickly made his leave._

 _"We look forward to playing you." Irie smiled then followed the taller man._

 _Ryoma stood in front of them, curious about the quiet guy with them. Her senses told her he was strong, that he was stronger than the other two. She couldn't handle herself and thus she showed up with her usual cocky attitude._

 _The three high schoolers stopped on their tracks, and Ryoma smirked._

 _"How bout you?" Her golden eyes met with his dark blue ones. It was only for a split second when he passed by her, being completely ignored._

 _His eyes did not have her in sight and even without saying it vocally she could read what he was insinuating with his glare._

 _She wasn't worth a second of his time._

Flashback End

Ryoma growled as she continued to make her way around the camp. Her eyes darted from one place to another, looking for a certain blue haired player. She feels like kicking his ass as soon as possible. She needs to let some steam off.

The female tennis player shifter her eyes to the right where she saw a map board. She took a look at it in hopes of finding her way around, however before she could even take a good look, another conceited voice interrupted her.

"Hey, middle schooler."

Ryoma glanced at her right to see a half-african japanese and an arrogant looking japanese. They frowned at her with disapproval

"What are you doing?" he demanded. "Practice should have started by now."

Ryoma decided to ignore his tone, instead she asked.

"Hey, I'm looking for Court one." she said cooly, this earnt even more disapproval.

"The fuck?" The half Japanese clicked his tongue. Who does this girl think she is? Getting all cocky just because she is allowed here.

"Why do you want to know where Court one is?"

Ryoma took off her cap and brushed her hair away from her forehead. It was surely getting hot this time of the year. She inwardly sighed, licking her lips as she answered. "It's got nothing to do with you though."

The two boys exchanged looks then nodded at each other as if they knew what they wanted to do. They weren't going to let anyone just do what they want around here, especially newbies. As usual, to be fair- they already know this girl in front of them wanted to challenge their top players, but they don't believe she was fit to. They gave her the benefit of the doubt, therefore; to make things fair, there was only one solution.

"We'll tell you, but only after you beat us." he declared.

Ryoma furrowed her eyebrows and sighed.

"I can always see a pattern here." she exasperated.

"OIIII, KOSHIMAE!" Ryoma's eyes twitched a bit.

"T-that voice…" she trailed off, turning slowly only to see the wild redhead waving back at her as he jogged towards her.

"You." She drawls. Kintaro grinned and hung his left arm around her.

"What are you doing here? Koshimae?"

"I should be saying the same thing to you." Ryoma shot back, struggling to take his hands off from her shoulders. "And take your hand off me, Kinta."

"I was looking for the toilet! But I couldn't find it anywhere you see, then I found you!" Kintaro explained with his ever nonchalant grin.

Ryoma groaned mentally, having him around was the last thing she needs. Aside from her being admittedly, trouble, this guy was double the trouble if he catches gist of what she was about to do. She predicted that he will definitely tag along wherever she goes, Kintaro always acted like her tail.

"I wasn't particularly up to anything—"

"—This will be perfect. Let's play a doubles match." The japanese guy said.

"Doubles?"

"Sou da, the both of us are doubles player. If you can get past us, then we will tell you where court one is. How does that sound?"

'There seems to be no way around this.' Ryoma scratched her cheek. How troublesome.

"Ohhohhh! Doubles? With Koshimae?!" Kintaro exclaimed.

"Ne, Koshimae! That's so sly! Trying to get matches by yourself." He pouted, leaning onto her. Ryoma narrowed her eyes in annoyance, struggling to balance with his weight on her.

"Fine. Let's have a match."

* * *

Courts

Meanwhile returning to the courts, a man named Itaru Saitō introduced himself as a coach; specializing in mental training. He was a man over two meters tall, white lab coat, dress shirt, dark dress pants and wore a sardonic smile. He announced the initial requirements before the training starts were to group up into pairs. Eventually, it was only natural to join up with their desired partner for they were given the choice to do so.

At first, one would normally think this was a doubles match, and none would have argued otherwise. However, they were caught off guard by the time they were finished grouping up— that they would actually be fighting against each other. The victor stays and the defeated leaves the camp.

Many were shook and dreams were crushed as they found out they were sending their partner home. Some made their resolve meanwhile others could not, even so; it was all part of training no matter how unfair and underhanded it would seem. A player could be skilled but lacks mentality, meanwhile a player whose mentality stayed firm could overpower those above them.

 _'Sou, this camp is not suited for such naïve thoughts.'_ Saitō frowns, looking over the matches from the balcony.

 _'If you lack the determination to stay in this camp, then it's better to go home.'_ Saitō nods his head to himself, this was a lesson they need to learn; a small taste of how vast the world was.

Saitō admits, these middle schoolers were exceptional; which is why the tennis organization keeps an eye out for budding players and thus this year; many have shown exceptional skills for their supposed age. There were no rules regarding about recruitments so it was legalized that training a chosen few of these middle schoolers might trigger promising players.

"For example, that Yukimura...Tezuka...Fuji...Sanada or that Atobe and Echizen kid." The lanky coach's glasses glinted.

"A definition of Diamond in the rough."

 _Saa, how will these matches turn out?_

* * *

Court six

 _PAK_!

"Guah!"

Ryoma landed lightly on her feet, straightening her back as she looked down onto the beaten high schoolers on the other side of their court. She stifle the urge to yawn while doing so, bringing her racquets to her shoulder and gently tapping, sporting a blank look on her face.

' _Boring_.'

Seigaku's only female regular exited her court and went on to the other side, hovering above the African-Japanese high schooler with a condescending look in her eyes, humming.

"Hm, so, will you tell me now?" She asked.

The older boy struggled a word out but he couldn't. His nose and mouth was in pain, and moving alone was undeniably difficult to do. He tries to open his eyes but quickly fainted back to the ground.

Kintaro chuckled nervously at the sight, albeit amused at the whole thing. Koshimae can surely hit a ball, she basically knocked out those two by herself that he couldn't even do anything at all.

"Naa, Koshimae...it's just a guess but—I think he can't even if he wanted to." He said slowly, fearing to anger the girl.

Ryoma's eyes widened slightly as she took a closer look at the older boy and for sure; just as Kinta said, they were out cold. She blinked for a moment, then looked at her racquet in hand innocently before sighing.

" _Fuck_ , I didn't expect that would actually knock them out. They were just pissing me off." She stated, strutting back to Kintaro's side then past him.

"Back to phase one, we'll have to look for it on our own then."

"Look for what?" Ah right, Kinta didn't know why she was straying away here. Well there weren't any other choices, tell him or not; Kintarō will follow her wherever she goes, now that he's already found her.

"Court one."

* * *

 _A/N: soo I made a mistake and updated chapter 4 instead of 3, gomen!_

 _I can be quite a mess especially when things are written out and this is proof of it haha! Well here's the real chapter 3 along with chapter 4 at the next page._


	4. Chapter 4: For Your Growth

**Take Two**

* * *

 _Summary: Echizen Ryoma receives an invitation letter to Under 17 Training camp in Japan. Having conquered tournaments in the west, she flies back to Japan and set her sights in new heights. TokuRyo YukiRyoma FujiRyo_

* * *

 **Chapter IV: For your growth**

.

Deep purple eyes narrowed condescendingly at the golden ones that stared right back at him without any hint of fear; rather— it was filled with confidence. His gaze shifted from the middle school girl to the red-head boy beside her, sizing them up.

He and Oni had only been rounding up their usual routine in the courts then suddenly these two cheeky juniors interrupted their session only to challenge them to a match. The wild haired boy looked at them with both awe and excitement, no doubt due to the fact he wanted to play them. He understood their challenger's spirit.

' _But another could be said for this girl.'_ Tokugawa mused, stoically eyeing the girl before him.

"You've got a lot of guts for a middle schooler." He heard Oni phrase.

"Is what I would be saying if we didn't have a lot of work to do." The senior said humbly. "Maybe later, or what? Do you think you're good enough to not bore us?"

The two remained the same with their determined faces.

"Why don't we find out?" The girl spoke up.

"You.." Tokugawa trailed off, wondering if he should say it. This earnt her attention. But the defiant glow in her eyes surprisingly ticked him off a little bit. "Do you honestly think that you're all that just because you're the only female exception in this camp?" he knew it was low to say, but he just said it. There was no going back.

He could see her feline eyes narrow dangerously, her determination stiffening even more.

"Oi, I really want to fight you senpai- but I don't like what you just said." Kintarō frowned. "Let's have a match! We will see who wins!"

Oni turned to look at him, he noticed that Oni was just waiting for his confirmation whether he would take up their challenge or not. Alas, he changed his mind- maybe giving them a small amount of time wouldn't be so bad.

"Ten minutes." He muttered, turning around; glancing at the girl. _Maybe this will do them good._

"That's more like it!" The wild boy grinned, glancing at the female beside him excitedly and she smiled slightly.

She noticed his piercing glare and returned it with a smirk, as if saying.

' _I'll prove you wrong with what you said earlier.'_

Main courts

Fuji Shūsuke and Tezuka Kunimitsu stood by the bleachers discussing the current predicament regarding their youngest in the team. Tezuka breathed exasperatedly, feeling a headache in his temple when Fuji finished his sentence. There was no need to really state the obvious but he agreed, really- that girl sometimes does things without regarding the consequences of her actions.

"Saa...we didn't expect this happening after all, Tezuka…" Fuji sighs.

"I _know_ that, but she shouldn't just have gone away knowing that we haven't been dismissed yet." He stressed out.

"You do have a point, but you know her…"

"Aa...far too well."

They both turned to the source of the footsteps running towards their direction. They saw their teammates gathering around them with grim and worried looks marring their faces. The two knew what it meant.

"No luck, buchou." Momoshiro said, "Echizen's nowhere to be found."

"We couldn't find her either." Oishi reported.

"Where did Ochibi run off to?" Kikumaru muttered, upset.

"At this rate, she will be disqualified for not participating…" Momoshiro whispered to himself. Damn it all, just when they were all gathered, were they going to be separated once again?

Kawamura exhaled meanwhile Kaidoh grumbled under his breath. Fuji looked around the area in a futile attempt to reach a conclusion where the girl could be. He did not like the idea of being separated with Ryoma once again just because of this unexpected predicament.

' _Damn it all...Ryoma, where are you?'_

Tezuka was stuck deep in thought, he had been quiet for awhile. Did the captain possibly have an idea? If he did, then Tezuka would have told them by now, Fuji evaluated.

"Did you check the restrooms?" The tensai asked his teammates.

"Yeah, she wasn't in the lockers either."

"Instead…."

"Instead?" Fuji repeated.

"We found Inui-senpai." Momoshiro said, rather mildly and shamefaced.

"He says he's going to forfeit the match because of a horrible stomach ache." Momoshiro finished. The news caused certain members of Seigaku to face fault due to the fact they knew the real reason behind the Data Master's situation.

"That Inui…" Tezuka mumbled under his breath.

...

A few moments down the road, Inui Sadaharu was announced disqualified due to forfeit. Yanagi Renji eyed the Seigaku members across the bleachers blankly. He inwardly shook his head at the outcome, winning without a battle.

"Pitiful, Sadaharu." He muttered, disappointed at his childhood friend.

"Seigaku is panicking." Niou Masaharu stated, observing the strained expressions on their rivals.

"I heard Echizen's gone missing." Jackal informed them.

"Eh?" Kirihara exclaimed. "Then that would mean that she will be disqualified?!"

"That would be the case." Yukimura confirmed stiffly, scowling, he did not feel pleasant at the thought of the girl that beat him being disqualified this early in the camp.

"Now that we think about it, she's been gone since the start of the matches." Marui said, blowing his gum.

"Tarundoru." Sanada muttered. He glanced at the Seigaku members, narrowing his eyes in disappointment at one girl. He doesn't know what happened to Echizen Ryoma, what she was thinking or where she is, but one thing is for sure- he did not appreciate the fact Echizen Ryoma was doing whatever she wanted. What was her purpose even for coming here?

"Renji, Kirihara- it's both your turn now." Yukimura announced.

"A-Ah…" Kirihara fished his racquet inside his bag and took off his jacket, placing it over his bag.

Renji wordlessly marched down to the courts from the bleachers, prepared.

Kirihara nervously followed one of the big threes, both excited and anxious.

' _Saa...Let's see how much you have grown, Akaya.'_ Yukimura looks over to his next successor for RikkaiDai middle school.

It has been awhile since he challenged one of them, henceforth- he did not know where he would stand. But one thing was for sure...he also grew up, he improved a lot. Kirihara's eyes were replaced with unwavering determination the moment he stood across the court with RikkaiDai's Data Master.

"Game, Kirihara to serve!"

Kirihara bounced the ball before serving it.

"I swear, I'll show you how much I improved- SENPAI!"

Meanwhile, on the left side of the area- a match between Hyotei's Atobe and Wakashi Hiyoshi was dragging out. Atobe Keigo had been merciless with his junior the moment they stepped into the courts and commenced the match.

He used his _Kōri no Sekai_ against Hiyoshi as well as making a strategic move by making him run around the courts to drain out his energy. The battle was so one-sided to a point it frustrated Hyotei's junior.

 _PAK!_

"No one's backing down, this has turned into an endurance match." Shishido utters, looking over knowing full well that their captain was merely toying with his opponent.

"Wakashi, aim to overthrow him!" He yelled.

 _PAK!_

"I already know that, Shishido-san!" Hiyoshi whispered, focusing on his captain.

 _PAK!_

Atobe returns it and moves forward.

"Up until now, there's always been a large gap between us…" Hiyoshi thought. "But this time, I'll make up for that. I've always dreamed of surpassing since that day…Since that day, he drew me into the club with the beauty of his tennis."

"GAh!" He hits the ball to the right lane.

PAK!

Atobe returns it with ease.

' _I always suspected I could never pass him...But overthrowing had a nice ring to it, telling myself he was unbeatable was just a defense mechanism to justify my own losses.'_

' _BUT I'M DIFFERENT NOW!'_

 _PAK!_

"20-8 all! Hiyoshi!"

' _That's right, Hiyoshi…'_ Atobe smirked inwardly.

…

"Tezuka's also merciless!"

"Kaidoh's already beat."

"...he's been running around the courts…" Kikumaru looks over their junior worriedly.

 _PAK!_

Kaidoh returned the barely returned the ball from the other corner of the court. How long has it been? Ten minutes? Fifteen minutes? He forgot already, all he knew was that it felt like forever, being forced to run in long distances in order to return his opponent's serves.

" _T-Tezuka-buchou is amazing…'_ He concluded in his mind. It was as expected from the man he admired. _'He leaves no opening at all…'_

He winced a bit trying to regain his balance when he felt his knees give out for a split second. His legs felt heavy and his muscles were throbbing, stressed.

"Kaidoh is getting tired." Oishi said.

"Ii data…" Inui scribbles down his notebook.

"I can't blame him, every ball he hits comes back twice as hard. But if he doesn't hit hard, he'll get backed into a corner."

"He's Seigaku's most tenacious player, Kaidoh." Kawamura stated.

"To think his tenacity would be his fall." Fuji adds.

"The more he struggles, the deeper he sinks."

...

By the tower, both coaches looked over the matches with serious vigor. Ryūji Tsuge lifts his twenty pound barbell subconsciously as he keeps track of the matches before him. Mainly Seigaku and Hyotei, something felt fishy to him.

"I don't believe Seigaku's Tezuka and Hyotei's Atobe. What are they thinking doing that to their junior teammates?" He questioned particularly to no one. Just his thoughts being said aloud.

Itaru Saitō smiles, "Maybe it's because they're their juniors."

Tsuge looks over to the tall man with a questioning stare, "Hah?"

"Oh look! Something's happening." Saitō completely ignored him.

"Ngh…" Begrudgingly he looks over to the matches.

Hiyoshi Wakashi immediately stopped on his tracks and sat down as if to meditate. It took a few moments but he finally opened his eyes and went back to stance.

"Ohh, his expression is good." Saitō expressed in glee, holding his chin in thought.

"Psychology is something I will never understand." Tsuge sighs, shaking his head- giving up trying to figure it out.

"Psychology is great you know, coach Tsuge. You don't know how well it changes the tide once they have the right mindset."

"Aah, I know that. I'm just not built to rack up my brain over those things." Tsuge defended, waving Saitō off.

Saitō merely gave a knowing smile.

.

* * *

 _._

 _PAK!_

"No way, Tokugawa is being pressured!" One of the high schoolers exclaimed.

"You have got to be kidding…"

A few moments back, Tokugawa and Oni decided to take on each respective juniors for a one on one match. Naturally, Tokugawa faced Echizen Ryoma who seems to be fixated on him for some reason, meanwhile Oni who showed personal interest in the wild boy took off to the next court next to theirs.

The start of the match took off in a heated pace in both matches. Ryoma kept hitting with her techniques whilst Tokugawa returned them with insipidity. There was a slight touch of keenness however it wasn't that obvious in other's eyes, Tokugawa was good in masking his emotions.

This only motivated Ryoma even more, for some reason- she was determined to get his interest. Have him look at her and recognize her powers. In fact, she had a vague idea why— Tokugawa was strong.

She knew it.

Stronger than her, just like Yukimura.

Strong people will _always_ catch her attention. Her glutton for challenges and desire for strength along with the thrill of tennis is what drives her.

Yet, Tokugawa _never_ looked at her nor showed her interest in her skills. That moment during their first confrontation, was the deciding factor that she will make him acknowledge her skills.

Hitting a Cool Drive, Echizen Ryoma smirked when Tokugawa barely reached it to be returned. Ryoma shifted the racquet to her right hand and hit the ball to the left side.

"That's the middle schooler who beat Matsudaira." The spectator's voice reached her ears but ignored it. Somewhere along the way, they gained two audience.

When Tokugawa returned it, she ran to the front and used the momentum to slide down then jumped.

 _PAK!_

"Drive B." She muttered, giving him a cocky smirk.

Tokugawa inwardly smirked, he had to give it to her…

' _Fine, you got my interest…'_ she was one of a kind, especially at her age.

The look on his steeled eyes, his sweat dripping, soaking his dark hair and shirt pleased Ryoma. She was panting herself, and sweaty as well. To think she pushed Tokugawa at least this far was enough for her. In all honesty, she might be loud mouthed and arrogant with her words, but it was her card to get what she wanted- and that meant, a match.

She wasn't dull enough to know who was stronger. She had lots more to work on. That's why she is always thrilled to make these men her stepping stone, in order to get to her dirty old man's level at some point in the near future.

As if knowing what he was thinking, for once- Ryoma turned her smirk into a sincere smile. Which to in fact- surprised the older boy.

" _Tennis definitely is fun._ " She whispered. But he heard it and he couldn't agree more.

"ULTRA GREAT DELICIOUS MOUNTAIN STORM!"

 _BAM!_

Seeing a cloud of smoke accumulating from the other court, Ryoma sighs briefly- adjusting her cap before saying.

"It seems like he's going all out." she could image the Shitenhouji Rookie playing recklessly in her mind.

"Still though, that naming sense." she added to herself before shaking her head to return her focus to the match.

"Seems like your friend is having quite a match over there." Ryoma said, trying to use her words again to gain his attention. Tokugawa merely stayed mum and braced himself for another serve game.

"Aa...they are."

 _It's time to show her more.'_

Ryoma widened her feline orbs upon hearing a loud bounce from behind her. She quickly turned to the source and saw the ball rolling from the fence lifelessly.

"W-What was that…"She mumbled.

This was just like when she first witnessed Genichirō's Rai.

"No…" This was different, she was sure that time she saw Genichirō's swing although barely. But this time she could not see it. The ball seemed like it just teleported behind her.

She looked back at Tokugawa who's expression remained indifferent.

"I see…" She muttered shakily, feeling excitement creeping up in her gut.

"Is this all?..." Tokugawa finally spoke up.

" _What?"_

 _PAK!_

Another point has been taken from her.

"Is this all you have?" he repeated, Ryoma frowned.

She stayed mum, all the arrogance gone by the wind.

 _Now he's done it._

* * *

Main Courts

.

"Huaaa...Huaaaa….."

Kirihara breathed heavily, falling to his knees when strength left him all at once. Almost fifteen minutes into the match, he was already exhausted to the bones meanwhile his opponent did not look winded in the slightest bit. Sweat dripped from his nose and chin, staining the court ground below him as he tried to comprehend the vastness of their skills.

It was crushing to find out where he stood. Just when he was at least confident he could give his senpai a run for his money; he couldn't even lay a finger on his game. Kirihara Akaya was no better than he was the last time he challenged Yanagi Renji.

"I can't believe Kirihara-san is so helpless against his opponent." He heard someone say, but he could not pinpoint the identity.

He ground his teeth together tightly in frustration.

' _I know that already! No need to point out the obvious. KUSO!'_ His hand formed into a fist.

Just then flashbacks of his past in RikkaiDai appeared in his mind. The first day he had in middle school, the moment he joined the team, then his first match against Yanagi Renji. His compilation of training when he set out to challenge the big three in order to become the Number One in his team.

' _I will become Number One!'_ His past selves exclamation echoed in his ears.

Meanwhile throughout his inner war, Renji merely looked over his junior with an unreadable expression. One wouldn't know what was going through his mind.

"I had decided I'd defeat the three demons...Yukimura-Buchou, Sanada-Fukubuchou and you…" He began, suddenly finding the strength to stand up.

"...and become Rikkai's number one player…"

By now, all of Rikkai were looking over their junior.

"You're all about to graduate….I'm running out of time…" Red aura started to surround Kirihara, they knew what was happening.

"So I…"

"Hmm…" Renji hummed, facing his junior fully.

"So I…" Kirihara then begins to laugh maniacally. "-I'LL DO ANYTHING!"

"Devil Akaya, huh?" Renji muttered.

 _PAK!_

Without a time's waste, Devil Akaya hit his serve with a knuckle serve but Renji returned it with ease, causing him to falter.

"Why?" Renji said, "That's what you'll ask."

"KUH!" Devil Akaya grits his teeth at the fact he is being completely read.

 _PAK!_

"5-0! YANAGI!"

 _PAK!_

"6-0! YANAGI! MATCH POINT!"

Renji looks over to the exhausted sight of his junior. To others it might seem that he was indifferent to the whole scene, but to him- he frankly felt a tinge of pride at his junior. ' _You have come a long way, Akaya.'_ he thought. Although his junior had more room to improve and definitely was not there yet, he had been thinking of something.

' _It might hit your pride, but forgive me for what i'm about to do, Akaya.'_ He thought, raising his hand.

"Referee, I, Yanagi Renji- forfeit the match."

As expected, his actions caused Kirihara to protest. Pride and ego broken for being given a free path to stay in the camp. He turns away to exit the the court but Kirihara would not take silence for an answer.

"DON'T BE RIDICULOUS! I WILL NOT STAND FOR THIS, YANAGI-SENPAI! I'M JUST GETTING STARTED!" He yells out.

"That's right, you're just getting started." He rephrased, surprising Kirihara.

"That's why you will be the one to remain at this camp." he turns to give one last look at his junior before exiting to the bleachers.

' _Climb even higher.'_

Those unspoken words rang inside his heart. Once hurt ego and pride were turned into begrudging determination once again .

"Kuh…..Aah... _I'll do it._ " He glared begrudgingly one last time at his senpai's back.

…

 _PLACK_

A sound of a racquet hitting the ground resonated inside the court. Momoshiro winced as he nursed his injured hand.

"Give it up, Omoshiro-kun." Sengoku warned him seriously.

"3-0, Sengoku."

He stared at the older boy defiantly, his injured hand throbbing in pain.

"Sengoku-san…"

"Your wrist still hurts right?"

"But-"

"Don't push yourself too hard, even though you are itching to play." Sengoku says, yet Momoshiro understood what he was trying to say. _'Force yourself and you might ruin your hand beyond repair.'_

But he wasn't Momoshiro Takeshi for nothing, he was stubborn and his action showed true to his reckless nature.

"ENOUGH! I.." He reaches for his racquet but another voice stopped him on his tracks.

"MOMO!" He turns to the source involuntarily through instinct.

There stood Seigaku's tensai, looking very displeased. He stood with regality over his junior, looking down at him with semi-opened eyes and arms crossed as if chastising a child.

"Fuji-Senpai…"

"If you destroy your wrists, you'll have nothing left." He spoke in a softer tone, but still firm. "Remember what Ryoma said. Ruining your wrists here is just a fruitless sacrifice, Momo. It's not worth it."

Momoshiro's eyes widened, then softened hesitantly as he clenched his fists.

And thus, Momoshiro found himself retreating away from the game, in a forfeit.

"Kuso…"

* * *

Court 1

.

"Haaah….Huwahhh….haaa…."

 _THUMP!_

Ryoma fell onto the ground, strength leaving her quickly than she could register. She was exhausted beyond to the point she could not stand. Tokugawa really did her well. Her peripheral view was filled with the clear blue colour of the sky, wincing slightly when the cloud covering the sun blew away slowly, allowing the sunray to hit her vision.

Her body felt heavy and limp. No matter how much she felt like moving, she could not bring her arms and legs to do her bidding. Her cap slid off from her head, showing her strained eyes and sweat covered face. All she could hear was the sound of her heartbeat thumping and the sounds of her heavy breathing.

' _He really is something…'_ she thought.

Ryoma didn't feel disheartened at being beaten, rather- she felt even more excited at the fact she met someone like Yukimura once again. This Tokugawa made way into her lists of worth opponents.

If she wasn't so exhausted, she might have laughed.

Ironically enough, she was again—the _challenger._

' _It was right to come back….'_

Her consciousness faded.

Tokugawa Kazuya stepped near the fallen girl, preparing to say something to her. But he stopped on his tracks when he noticed her chest heaving steadily, contrary to a few moments ago. He allowed his eyes to fall on her face, his eyes widening slightly in surprise.

She was _sleeping…_

But that was not everything that caught him off guard at the sight. When one would think her determination might be broken, he was shown the exact opposite.

Echizen Ryoma was _smiling_ in her sleep.

He composed himself quickly, contemplating for a moment what to do with the girl. It did not take long though. He bent down beside her and slide both his hands one under her back and the other just under her legs. He stood up, carrying her bridal style.

' _I should at least move her away from the courts.'_ He said to himself.

Just right then, Oni came into view with a very tired boy over his shoulder. He immediately concluded what happened and the two of them exchanged looks, both nodding at each other as if conveying some telepathic message- at least that's what it seemed to the two high schoolers that remained spectators during the whole ordeal.

Oni put down the exhausted boy against the bleachers who was still panting in exhaustion, Tokugawa walked over to them with Echizen in his arms.

The wild boy looked at him, then seemed frantic when his eyes landed on the unconscious girl in his arms.

"K-Koshimae?!" He exclaimed.

"Don't worry, she's just sleeping." Tokugawa immediately explained, looking at the girl's peaceful face. He then found himself thinking that if this girl wasn't so conceited and arrogant, she might actually be cute….not that she wasn't beautiful for her age at all…

' _Wait, what am I thinking…'_ Tokugawa felt embarrassed at himself for even thinking of it. He sighed mentally and placed the girl beside her friend who quickly tended to her.

"O-oi, Koshimae?.." Kintarō calls out softly.

Ryoma opened her eyes groggily, half-awake.

"Nani…"

"You should see Coach Nyudo." was all Tokugawa said before he quickly walked off with Oni following closely behind him.

When they were in a good distance away from the courts, Tokugawa slows down while his companion walks beside him. Oni gave him a sideways glance, thinking about the reason behind the slight change of demeanor at their number one player.

"What is it, Oni-san?"

"Did something happen?" Oni asked, figuring it was better to ask than speculate.

"Nothing in particular. They still have a lot more ways to go." He says. Oni blinks, then thinks maybe he was just overthinking things but immediately thought otherwise when he heard Tokugawa's next words.

"It's just that...Echizen Ryoma...She's very interesting indeed." Tokugawa mumbles.

"When they see Coach Nyudo, I'm sure they will come back much stronger than before." he adds.

"That...I agree." Oni nods to himself, well, they were definitely looking forwards to their growth.

* * *

Main Court

.

The qualification matches ended. Many lost with frustrations and regrets while others accepted their defeat quietly. The winners were neither happy with their victory, if it meant sending their comrades away from the camp. But they had no choice, they made their resolve to stay. Although they understood that their disqualified teammates understood the situation and made the same resolve throughout the game, it did not change the fact they could not see each other grow stronger in the camp.

They were gathered by the coaches in the camp, who just announced the winners and losers of the match, then proceeded to name two individuals off the list of players in the camp.

To say the least, some of the more, passion-driven individuals voiced out their concern at the two youngest in the camp. However the coach simply rejected their plea.

"Please, Coach!" Kikumaru begged.

"It's finalized, we cannot delay anything just for two members who failed to follow the rules."

"No way! I'm sure ochibi will come back!" Kikumaru frustratingly tries to fight back for their little sister, "Just wait a little longer!"

"No can do, Echizen Ryoma and Tooyama Kintarō are disqualified from the camp."

"Please!"

"No."

"Wait!" Kikumaru began to get aggressive and this time Tezuka stepped in.

"Stop, Kikumaru." His baritone voice stopped the acrobatic player.

"Why? If we don't do something, Ochibi will…"

"This camp was not made for us." Tezuka stated, interrupting his teammate.

"Echizen broke the rules." Tezuka said firmly, it was just like him. Stern.

"Che...What a letdown, Ryo…" Atobe muttered under his breath, begrudgingly agreeing with Tezuka on this one. He couldn't believe his cousin threw this chance away, they will need a good talk when they meet the next time.

"It's unfortunate, but Tezuka is right." Fuji grits his words out, frustrated at the outcome. Once he sees her, he will definitely give her a piece of his mind.

"There's nothing we can do." Yukimura sighs in disappointment when he thought about the fact he could not play with the girl once again in this camp.

"Kin-chan you idiot." Shiraishi says tautly.

* * *

 _A/N: So yeah, as mentioned at the previous chapter; this is originally Chapter 4 (^~^;), gomene minna._

 _Hope you guys like it! It would help immensely if you guys tell me what you think! :D_

 _GGCharms : I thank you greatly for keeping up and giving me your thoughts about the story, it makes me happy to think someone is enjoying it! And to answer your question, I am kind of the cautious type. So whenever I write gender bender stories, I usually love to take things more realistically even if I keep with the original plot, I won't disregard the facts that things will change once the main character's gender is also changed. It gives the same but slightly different impact you know? For example, if Echizen was a girl, some of the boys might actually see her romantically than platonically. And about Atobe and Ryoma being cousins, admittedly I used to hang around the PoT archive, so I remembered once that someone had started the whole Royal Pair cousin-thingy, and honestly, I was just watching the Nationals ver of PoT and I concluded, Ryoma and Keigo are very much alike, pompous, cocky, arrogant.(plus I get feels how Keigo actually acts like an older brother to Ryoma -coughlookingafterhcough-)I just hope I'm doing a decent job in keeping her attitude in check, although I want to note that Ryoma is softer here due to the fact not only is she a girl but she sees them as companions and friends now. Otherwise, she would have been the unfriendly, apathetic girl a year prior of the U-17 segment. :D_


	5. Chapter 5: Path to Redemption

**Take Two**

* * *

 _Description: Echizen Ryoma receives an invitation letter to Under 17 Training camp in Japan. Having conquered tournaments in the west, she flies back to Japan and set her sights in new heights. TokuRyo YukiRyoma FujiRyo_

* * *

 **Chapter V: Path to Redemption**

Outside Camp

Afternoon came, and all forty-eight middle schoolers were gathered outside the gate saying their farewell to their disqualified teammates. They were led to a bus provided for them to be sent back to each of their respective stations.

Some farewells were bitter but all in all it was out of good will. Most of the disqualified merely were focused on getting into the bus whilst some individuals were concerned about particularly two missing kids. Worry obvious in their faces.

"I wonder where Kintarō is…" Koharu wonders.

"Mhm...Ryoma never showed up as well…" Fuji muttered under his breath, feeling disheartened and overly worried at the girl's whereabouts.

"OI, Hurry up!" They could hear Gakuto yell.

"Kei-kun, your butt is too big!"

"DAMN THIS DOOR!"

"Ghn….maybe you should start losing weight!"

"Shut up! The door is just small!"

"That's right, nya…" Kikumaru looks over to his partner.

"See you again, Eiji." Oishi smiled.

Just then, Yukimura walks up to them. This action caused the Seigaku members to look at the Rikkaidai captain with curiosity, wondering what made him approach.

He pauses, his eyes met with Fuji's and Tezuka's for a brief moment.

"If you're wondering where Ryoma is...she's probably safe." He says.

Eyelids slid open, his cerulean eyes almost seemed as if it was glaring met Yukimura's dark blue ones. Fuji's face darkened.

"How do you know that?"

Yukimura merely brushed off his fellow sadists glare with a calm smile.

"I thank you, Yukimura." Tezuka curtly says.

"How I know doesn't matter—I'm merely here to ease up your minds." As fast as he came, Yukimura stalks off without giving Fuji another glance.

Fuji clenched his fists in frustration at the information Yukimura gave them. Many questions flew in his mind, both good and bad, _how_ did he know? Was the main question that swarmed his mind.

The tensai was fairly aware how petty it was to feel defeated that someone else knew about Ryoma's whereabouts than himself. But the bigger picture was that he definitely couldn't stay still without any confirmation where she was.

' _Fuji Shūsuke...you're troublesome.'_ Yukimura's eyes glinted.

…

They saw off their respective teammates as they got into the bus, all returning back to the camp all at once after an order has been made. Meanwhile, the bus ride was less than relieving. A heavy cloud loomed upon the atmosphere as a few were defiant about the outcome of the matches. Some just could not accept that they lost due to the difference in skill.

"This is super lame…" Shishido voiced out. "Is this really the end?"

Others stayed mum, pondering over their loss as well.

"Is this really alright?"

"Of course it's not." Gakuto growled in response. Shishido turns to the source who held a scowl.

"If I had another chance, I'd never lose to Yushi." Hyotei's acrobat murmured.

"And no one can stop my Big Bang!" Another protest came.

"Yeah! I refuse to go home like this!"

"I don't want to leave before I even get to the good stuff either!"

"FOOLS!" Sanada's baritone voice rang out the whole bus, successfully silencing them with his outburst. All eyes were on his direction but he did not look at them, insisting on keeping his gaze outside the bus.

"We all lost fair and square, that alone we should just admit." He chastised.

"He's right." Oishi regretfully says. "We lost fair and square. It must have been difficult for the winners too" He added the latter remembering his redhead partner.

All reflected on his words, a bit ashamed of their protests.

"I know that...But still I…" Shishido trails off but was cut by the sudden change of direction.

"WHAT THE-!"

"Oi, was this the road we took?" Gakuto questions, looking outside the window. They took an off-road.

"Ne...Driver, sometimes it's good to just stop and look at the map you know?" Koharu told the driver nervously, a little bit frightened by the weird change.

"Where are we?"

"Oi, Driver!"

The driver paid them no heed at all. They could only watch helplessly when they were being took to somewhere they didn't know.

Moments after, the driver stopped beside a clearing, telling them to get out of the bus. They did so but cautiously as well- alert what might be installed for them. The teams looked around, it dawned to them that they were practically a long way from the main road.

"Oi- look, I see people ahead." Hiyoshi pointed to the area behind the trees.

"Ah, you're right."

Out of instinct, Sanada begins to walk towards the people, curiosity flaring up. When they got near, the figures became more recognizable, and they gawked to see the two missing people and a man towering behind them.

"ECHIZEN, KINTARŌ!?"

"Yoooh!" Kintarō grinned, waving at them whilst Ryoma merely blinked at them.

"I have been waiting for you." Saitō smiles.

"Coach Saitō."

"Echizen, what have you been up to?" Momoshiro inquired. "Fuji-senpai was worried you know!"

' _Shūsuke-senpai was?'_ Ryoma looks at them curiously, she has no intentions to apologize though.

"We were all worried about you two you know!"

"Gomen, gomen, I went exploring with Koshimae and got lost!" Kintarō nonchalantly apologized, clearly not remorseful.

"Nah, Koshimae?" Kintarō grinned at Ryoma who got the message. She closes her eyes briefly before playing along.

"Aa, that about sums it up, senpai-tachi."

"Now, my real job begins here." Saitō interrupted their reunion to get into the business.

"What do you mean? Where are we?" Shishido asks cautiously.

"Didn't we drop out?" Gakuto adds, confused.

"Yes you did, however, if you not wish to widen the gap between yourselves and the winners, why don't you try climbing this mountain?" He suggested, giving off his usual smile.

This piqued their interest, especially Sanada who's been sulking over his loss with his childhood friend, Yukimura.

"Wait, so are you saying that we have a chance to return to the camp if we climb this mountain?" Shishido asks, trying to piece up the information they were given. However it might sound tempting, it was just too good to be true.

"Saa...You'll have to find out." Saitō chuckles.

"Don't give us that crap!" Gakuto yells, it was crazy to just do something as climbing a mountain for no clear reason!

"You're not giving us a straight answer, it's too suspicious!" Kaidoh hissed.

"That's right!"

Ryoma inwardly sighs at her seniors' reactions, but she could not blame them. This news was too good to be true no matter how true it actually was. The only problem was the process, how and what they will have to go through to achieve and regain their stay in the camp. As of now, she knew they will be given no direct answer unless they do climb that mountain.

That was for certain.

Things weren't going to change unless one takes an action. She trusts that Coach Saitō led them somewhere to redeem themselves.

And something had been bothering her as well.

' _You should go see Coach Nyudo…'_

Tokugawa's words—then Coach Saitō's words earlier.

' _Do you want to become stronger?'_

All she knew is, this was the obstacle they have to overcome in order to seek their answer. Therefore, Ryoma uttered no word and left towards the mountain, surprising her seniors.

"Oi! Koshimae, wait for me!" Kintarō ran to follow Echizen and they both disappeared inside the woods.

"Does that girl know no fear?" Gakuto mumbles under his breath as he looks at the creepy woods ahead.

Niou automatically starts to walk towards the woods, followed by Jackal then Shitenhouji. One by one they all came to a realization and found determination to seek their answer on top of the mountain. Whilst Gakuto reluctantly follows close Shishido, Hiyoshi and Kabaji who knew he was a bit of a scardy-cat.

Sanada remained.

"What is it?" Saitō asks.

"What is up there?" The boy demanded.

"You guys were weaker than the winners, that's why you lost." He answered.

"That's not an answer." Sanada shots back.

"The winners already begun training with a special regimen. The gap between you only grows wider, whether you decided to try to close that gap or not, is up to you."

This man speaks in riddles, Sanada concluded that. Knowing it was futile to attempt to fish out a direct one, he walks past the man and into the forest.

"As long as my answer will be there— I'll do it."

"You won't regret it, Sanada-kun."

.

* * *

.

"I'm going ahead!" Gakuto nonchalantly blurts out as he jumps over the rocks with ease.

They were already climbing over the mountain which was steep, but definitely not impossible to climb. Ryoma narrows her eyes as she looks beside her, this was dangerous. One mistake and they could fall to their death.

' _Che...this seems oddly like that training I did with oyaji…'_ she mused.

"Me too!" The big guy from Higa hopped as well, causing some rubble to fall down to the unsuspecting players below.

"OI! CAREFUL!" Shishido yells after him. "This isn't a race!"

She peers down below when she heard a yelp of pain and a thump. Her heart raced a bit when she saw her senpai lying down the ground, nursing his injured right hand. Oishi came down to his rescue quickly.

"Kuso...his hand hasn't healed yet?" She muttered, climbing down to get to them.

Just when she was near them, she heard two familiar voices arguing. Feeling the ground on her feet, she narrows her eyes.

"You two, stop it!" She voiced out, earning their attention including Oishi's.

They turned to her, "E-Echizen."

"This is no time to be fighting. Dusk is here and we can't afford to stay on the mountain's side when the sun sets completely." She reasoned out before her eyes landed on Momoshiro.

"Momo-senpai, I did told you not to overdo it. Now look at your wrists." She hissed, her peeve being ignited when she remembers his match with Oni.

Momoshiro looks down ashamed, his junior was right.

"There is no shame in going home, Momoshiro." Sanada then comes into view. He stood beside Ryoma who shot him a curious look.

"Genichirō -san…" She murmurs.

"Better to graciously accept defeat than to struggle in vain." He says, looking over at them stoically. "Do you think there's any point in climbing this mountain when you're injured?"

Kaidoh hissed and bent down. He was not about to let his rival get beaten down here, they have lots of room to improve on.

"Get on." He grumbled.

"Viper."

"Get on, we'll pick this up once we reach the top." Kaidoh said, motioning for him to be quick.

"What are you talking about you moron? I'd rather drop out than ride on your back!" Momoshiro said pridefully.

"Momo-senpai." Momoshiro flinched at the venom laced in his junior's words.

"Just get on Kaidoh-senpai's back. We are not leaving here until you do."

Just like a command one could not defy, Momoshiro feared for his own manhood. Thus he reluctantly accepted the damned Viper's help who wasted no time and began to climb the mountains. Oishi followed closely behind, staying alert for them in case any issues may arise.

"You got a knack for ordering people around you, Ryoma." Sanada mumbled, watching the three Seigaku members climb the mountain.

"I'm just trying to keep them in line when they can't keep track on themselves, Genichirō -san." She muttered silently, making a move to begin climbing.

"Mattaku, you're the one to say." He then follows suit.

It did not take long for them to reach a level ground, they all sat down for a rest. The last to arrive were Echizen and Sanada respectively since they were keeping an eye for the injured. Ryoma looks over to the horizon and predicted that they have less than an hour before the sun was about to completely set so they all created a poll to vote whether they should make camp and sleep in the night or if they should just continue.

Echizen voted for camping in while most of the boys voted to continue their journey. Obviously due to the fact they were overly excited or anxious for what's awaiting for them at the end.

Thus nighttime came in the middle where they were trekking through the woods. Sanada ordered everyone to take a long twig with them in order to ward of snakes that might be nearby as they continue along the path. Thankfully, the moon was full and bright enough to light the whole surrounding, saving them the time to make fire.

Just when their path was going smooth, Echizen stopped, causing Sanada and the others to do so as well. She looks at the sight before her in bewilderment.

It was a bridge.

Not just any bridge, a hanging bridge. A worn out one at that.

"Oi… are we really going to cross that thing?" Momoshiro voiced out, unsure.

They looked ahead and for sure, the peak was just right there.

"I suppose we have no choice but to cross the bridge to get there…" Oishi responds.

"You gotta be kidding me...this bridge looks like it's about to give in soon!"

"Don't tell me you're scared of a mere bridge, Shishido." Gakuto teased.

"Aa, i don't want to hear that from someone who's afraid of ghosts." Shishido shoots back, earning a snicker from Niou.

"Is it safe for people to cross this though?" Koharu steps on it with one foot in order to test the durability.

"Of course it will be." Gakuto said arrogantly, confident of his light weight.

"That's right, this will be easy!" Kintarō exclaimed.

"Ah, it will be...We just need to keep distance so that the bridge will be balanced out. Therefore, we won't be giving too much pressure to a certain part of it in order for it to avoid giving out on us." Ryoma explained, but then falters when she remembered one person.

"But.."

"Ah.." Kintarō also realized then they all looked at Higa's Big Bang user.

"Why are you all looking at me like that!? " Tanishi pointed at himself.

"You'll have to wait for us to get to the other side before you can cross." Ryoma stated and everyone agreed.

"Jaa, I'm up." Gakuto took the initial to cross, feeling confident with his light body.

Once all of them were in the middle of the bridge, Tanishi began to get impatient and a bit offended by the other's when they referred to his weight. And him being immature..and partly in denial, he rebelled.

"AH! I can't wait any longer! I'm crossing!" He cries out, unable to think of the consequences of his actions.

"AH! That idiot!" Ryoma muttered under her breath. Her eyes looked down below and saw a river underneath her. She couldn't move due the fact that the whole bridge was already shaking due to the unbalance caused by Tanishi.

They all held on and waited for the swaying to stabilize. Once it began to become stable again, they calmed down a little bit.

"The bridge seems fine considering it supported Tanishi…" Oishi says worriedly.

"Yeah, but I think it's safe to assume the bridge is on its limits...if more weight is added…"Sanada trails off. And as if on cue, an eagle landed on Tanishi's head.

A moment of silence.

 _SNAP_!

Sounds of the ropes snapping were the first things that was heard, followed by yells. Ryoma cursed the heavens when all of them fell, they were all sure they would meet their death. However they didn't. Most of them were cushioned by the trees during their fall, causing little to no injury at all.

Simultaneous sounds of rustle and thuds were followed by groans from the boys. Oishi winced at the cut caused by the tree branch when he landed on it but he quickly scanned everyone.

"Is everyone alright?!" He calls out, wanting to make sure they were all fine from the fall.

"Hai/Yeah!" The boys chorused which caused Oishi to sigh in relief.

But it was short lived when one particular voice did not say anything.

"WHERE'S ECHIZEN!?"

"ECHIZEN!" Hiyoshi's voice yelled a few feet away from them. The boys quickly went up to their feet when they heard a loud splash then silence.

"Hiyoshi! Echizen!" Shishido yelled after the two youngins.

Hiyoshi then emerged from the waters with an unconscious girl in his arms. The river currents were strong, but thankfully enough, he saw a log not far from him so he betted his chances to swim at least to where the log would be enough to stop them from moving further.

Once he was able to latch onto the log, Sanada came quickly beside them, reaching out.

"Leave her to me!" He says and Hiyoshi nods, giving Ryoma to the older boy. Sanada couldn't care less that he was getting wet, he held onto the girl tightly while Shishido and Gakuto pulled Hiyoshi up.

"Koshimae! Is she alright?!" Kintarō exclaimed, pushing into the crowd.

But the boys were panicking when Ryoma did not beath.

"This isn't good! She isn't breathing!" Sanada shouts, nervously.

"RYOMA!"

"Move out of the way!" Hiyoshi growled and kneeled beside Echizen. He tilts her head back , pushing her chin upwards then dove down. After breathing into her a few times, he placed both of his hands on top of her chest, momentarily fighting down the blush on his cheeks and silently apologized to the girl. He begins to perform chest compressions then rescue breathings, alternating inbetween.

 _GASP!_

Ryoma jerked awake, inhaling deeply on her first breath as she coughed out water. Hiyoshi supported her back as well as Sanada.

"Echizen!" everyone's voices reached her ears.

"Eh...What happened…" She mumbled, still coughing.

"You fell to the river."

"Ah," Ryoma's eyes widened then she shivered when cold breeze hit her. She regains her composure when she faces Hiyoshi who's eyes softened.

"Good, you're fine now." He says, standing up. Ryoma's eyes followed him, somehow knowing it was him that rescued her.

"Thanks…" She mumbled silently.

"Echizen, are you feeling well?" Oishi and Momoshiro ran to her side and she nods, brushing her wet hair away from her face.

"Yeah…."

"K-Koshimae…" Kintarō's voice trailed off when he realized something. He didn't notice it immediately because they were all worried about her condition but now that she was fine, he noticed. His eyes fell to her face, her hair hugging her well shaped face tightly, then her white seigaku shirt holding tightly onto her...chest.

Her size wasn't really like those magazines he saw the old men were staring at back at home, and he never really saw any girl his age being well developed. But now that it was clear as day to him due to the fact the white Seigaku shirt were as good as being transparent, Ryoma's black sports bra could be seen through and her shirt was hiked up a bit just below her chest due to the fact they were all frantic when they were moving her, the shirt must have hiked when it rubbed against Sanada's own.

"Kin-chan?" Koharu give's their rookie a curious glance.

"You're red." He pointed out when he noticed Kintarō 's face turned a dark shade just a few shades lighter than his own hair.

"Wahh!" Kintarō shook his head and held his hands up defensively.

"ITS NOTHING!"

But Koharu knew better, he grinned mischievously and slyly says,

"Ara~ Kin-chan you pervert~" He teased, causing the younger boy to blush even more.

"I'M NOT!"

"You were totally looking at her~"

"KOHARU, SHUT UP!" Kintarō yelled embarrassingly, especially due to the fact everyone definitely noticed what he noticed now.

The boys stared at Ryoma who was totally oblivious to the whole thing and she sat up, nursing her head. "Ngh...urusai…." She muttered under her breath, glaring at them weakly with her golden eyes through her dark lashes.

While some more honorable bunch fought the urge to image immoral things about Echizen; others were clearly off to wonderland with their blushing faces. After all, they have to admit—she was beautiful. If she weren't their rival, they would have been all over her by now.

"O-OI! YOU BASTARDS!" Momoshiro growled at the others protectively. Sanada fought back his own blush and took off his jacket, draping his oversized jacket over her shoulders for protection.

"YOU BASTARDS BETTER NOT THINK OF ANYTHING FUNNY!" Kaidoh seconded.

"You'll need this...Ryoma." He said, looking away.

"A-Ah…." Ryoma trailed off, looking at Sanada before saying an unsure thanks to the Rikkaidai fukubuchou.

Yanagi came up to them with her bag and a shirt.

"Echizen,"

"Yanagi...san." Yanagi kneeled next to her and handed a yellow shirt. Ryoma looked at it.

"Go change into this shirt, it's better not to wear a soaked shirt whilst out here in the cold." He said helpfully, taking Ryoma's hand and supporting her to stand up.

"O-OI! WHERE ARE YOU GOING!" Momoshiro exclaimed, alarmed for his junior.

"Momo, calm down. Yanagi-san is just helping her." Oishi scolded his junior.

"Oishi's right, Momoshiro." Inui mutters from behind.

Ryoma came out from the bushes moment's later wearing another oversized Rikkaidai shirt, she inspected the shirt, feeling comfortable with the size. I mean, which girl didn't like oversized shirts? It was comfortable and warm despite the fact she had to keep her bra intact. Even if it was wet, wearing a dry shirt was more than enough to compensate.

"Yanagi-san…" She trails off, pausing her inspection.

"Is this your shirt?" She asks.

"WHAT?!" Momoshiro and Kintarō exclaimed simultaneously, feeling rather violated for Ryoma.

Well to most of them, a girl wearing a boy's shirt conjured up rather intimate indications. It was a common culture in the east to be flustered at such acts,but for Ryoma who grew up in the west, as well as being a tomboy herself—she was not quite aware of these sensitive topics.

"Ah, it is." To prove his point, Yanagi tugged his collar down to his shoulder. He was only wearing his Rikkaidai jacket.

"Eh...Is this alright?" She muttered, unsure.

"Keep it for now, we don't want you getting sick."

"Hah…." Yanagi smiled a bit, satisfied by the fact Ryoma seemed more compliant. It saves them the trouble for now.

Once the ruckus began to die down, they built a fire. Tanishi's teammates began to scold him for his incompetence and disobeying orders, making him face the results of his actions. Tanishi apologized to Ryoma whom brushed it off saying it's was alright.

The seigaku regulars attended to Ryoma, still worried if she was feeling some side-effects from the fall meanwhile others were treating their own scratches caused by the fall. It was then that Niou playfully voiced out how Ryoma looked way better wearing their uniform instead of Seigaku's causing the two sophomores to begin a verbal banter with the trickster of Rikkaidai who was clearly playing with them.

Just then two members from Shitenhouji appeared out of nowhere, Zaizen Hikaru and a rather feral Hitoji Yuji. Zaizen briefly explained the reason for Yuji becoming feral— something about him saying to follow their instincts then ended up getting into it too much that he himself became wild.

Koharu stepped up to his skit partner. The two dramatically embraced when Yuji remembered, giving off a rather comical vibe.

Apparently, the only one being moved was Kintarō.

"What a beautiful story!"

"What's the point of this little skit?..." Ryoma's eyebrow twitched at the scene. She could have sworn she saw glowing pink background behind them.

But then, Ryoma was brought back into the situation at hand. She clammed down, feeling a bit guilty with what happened to her. If she hadn't fallen into the river and hit her head at a rock, they wouldn't have been wasting so much time in this spot.

She was feeling fine now, so she should let them know.

"Senpai-tachi...Let's proceed." She announced, earning their attention.

"But Echizen, are you fine?" Oishi stepped in, acting like the usual mother hen that he is.

"Ah, I'm fine, senpai." She gave a half-smirk. "I'm sorry for the trouble—but let's continue."

"Are you sure?" Yanagi came up beside her and she nods.

"Yosh, let's go." Sanada gives her a nod.

The end was near, they were near the peak. Just a few meters away, to the top. But the nearer they got, the steeper the mountain they had to climb. Shishido's heart almost dropped when he lost his grip on the stone and slid down the slope but quickly regained his grip on another stone.

"Shishido! Be Careful!" Gakuto yells out.

"I KNOW!"

"Shishido-san, you should go there and take a break." Hiyoshi points at a platform near him.

"I'm fine, Hiyoshi."

Ryoma looks down to her senpais, worried at both Momo and Kaidoh. She was already having a rough time with supporting her own weight, but then what about Kaidoh-senpai who was carrying Momo-senpai?

"Ne, Kaidoh-senpai, can you still go on?" She asked, no matter how knew it wouldn't change anything.

"This is enough, Kaidoh." Momoshiro told his rival who shut him off.

"Shut up and don't move." was all he said before stubbornly continuing.

"Ah! We're fine, Echizen." Kaidoh answered back to their freshman.

"Kuso! Why did this have to happen?" Shishido sulked.

"We're being tested aren't we? Damn it! I bet they're just watching us from somewhere and laughing!" Shishido exclaimed in frustration. The others paused, letting his words sink into their heads.

"Let them! It doesn't change anything!" Gakuto yells back.

Meanwhile their heated moment, Ryoma just continues to climb silently but with determination. Sanada saw the glint in her eyes and he couldn't help but ask.

"Ryoma, you know don't you!"

Ryoma pauses, looking at him in the eyes before looking over to the top.

"Saa...but one thing's for certain, and that is climbing to the top will make us stronger." She answered before proceeding.

Just then, multiple sphere-shaped silhouettes began falling from the top. Ryoma's eyes widened at the sight.

"What?"

When the objects were near, they could clearly make it out that those were tennis balls. But seeing what the balls that collided with the stone's did, they were immediately alerted. Debris started to fall off and everyone began to warn each other to stay close against the wall of dirt.

But then just when Kaidoh looked up, his forehead was hit with a rather larger debris, causing him to lose grip on the stone he was holding onto. Both Momoshiro and Kaidoh fell but Kaidoh managed to grab onto a platform. However, Momoshiro could not keep his grip and fell.

"AHHHH!"

"MOMOSHIRO/MOMO-SENPAI!"

"AHHHHHH!" Momoshiro was sure this would be his death. However, a hand grasped his tightly. He opened his eyes only to see Sanada holding onto him tightly.

"Don't lose grip, Momoshiro!"

"S-Sanada-san…." Sanada winced as he supported both their weights.

"G-Genichirō-san…" Ryoma trailed off, silently thanking the older boy for saving her senpai. She grits her teeth in budding fury when she realized whoever threw those balls could have killed one of them.

"EVERYONE LISTEN!" Sanada's commanding voice bellowed.

"Up there...At the top of this cliff, he's there! Someone who's mocking us—who've lost!"

Tanishi holds out his hand to help Kaidoh up.

"This is our new battle! We'll stare back at those who mock us and beat the arrogance out of them! Don't falter. Don't be afraid. Don't look back! There's only one thing we must do now!"

"Let's go!"

"I don't know who you are but you just wait!"

" _Fuck...keep on throwing balls at us…"_ Ryoma growled under her breath, annoyed.

"Everyone, move up!"

"Ou!"

"Just a little more, we're there!" Kintarō announced, "Last spurt!"

Ryoma looks up just as Kintarō disappeared at the top, knowing full well that the wild haired boy already reached the top. She quickened her pace and as soon as she did, she found herself being helped up by Kintarō himself. She took a seat and sighs, looking back at everyone to check.

They were almost near.

However, as she allowed her eyes to adjust in the fog. Kintarō voiced out,

"Nah...what is this?"

Unconscious bodies splayed all over the ground. One burly silhouette sat in the middle of it all, nonchalantly sipping on his gourd.

"What's going on?" Shishido mutters, signalling her that they arrived safely to the top.

Her eyes transfixed on the sole man in the middle of the scene, his figure becoming more prominent as the mist cleared. Huge and burly in shape, wild brown hair and wore a tattered brown Judogi.

He turns to look over his shoulders, menacing green eyes glaring at them then spoke with his gruff voice.

They grimaced.

"Took you long enough, I was getting tired of waiting."

* * *

 _A/N: Chapter 5 there!_

 _Finally finished it! haha Kin-chan has seen Ryoma in a new light LMAO._


	6. Chapter 6: Training

Take Two

* * *

 _Description: Echizen Ryoma receives an invitation letter to Under 17 Training camp in Japan. Having conquered tournaments in the west, she flies back to Japan and set her sights in new heights. TokuRyo YukiRyoma FujiRyo_

* * *

Chapter VI: Training

Mountains

Dawn came and they found themselves on the edge of the cliff with a poor makeshift tennis court along with High Schoolers who supposed to have dropped out. Most of them quickly came to a realization that the older boys might also be trying to do the same thing as they were about to do.

The man yelled out for them to line up; his voice demanded authority, and thus they did.

"I'm Mifune." He introduced, sipping again from his gourd.

He glazed his eyes over the sea of teens, sizing them up one by one with distaste clear in his green eyes. He clicked his tongue.

"I can't believe I have to take care of you trash. What a pain in the ass." Hiccup.

"And I can't believe our coach is a drunk." Shishido mutters with the same amount of distaste.

"Listen up! My word here is absolute! Anyone who defies it will be thrown over the cliff, you understand!?" Their new coach, Mifune, bellows.

"You heard him." The blonde pompadour beside her spoke up.

"I'm not too sure you middle schoolers will make it through the training up here, though." He looks down at her. "I won't blame you if you run, "

His trash talk earnt a lot of snickers from the other high schoolers.

"I thought we were through this prejudice, ossan." She replied coolly.

"O-Ossan?!"

"Just because we are younger than you, does not mean you are stronger and it certainly does not mean you are more capable in something than us. Tennis has no boundaries." she looks at him, her steel eyes caused him to break a sweat.

"Y-You!"

"Then again, pea-brains like you lot usually are the weaker ones…" She adds, "I won't blame you that you lost to us."

 _'Oof, that was a low blow.'_ her peers thought.

Gone were the smirks, only to be replaced by glares from the older group— some more menacing than the others.

"Echizen, that's enough. No need to stoop their low." Yanagi places a hand on her shoulder to which she sighs and accedes.

"Hurry up and move you trashes! The training already begun!" The blonde pompadour gave her one last glare before scoffing, taking off to do their training.

Unnoticed by them, the coach was staring at her with amusement.

* * *

Several minutes later

.

Once they were led to the cabins, Mifune threw them a bag. He told them to quickly get changed in a few minutes and were given white shirts and shorts. The boys gave the cabin space to Ryoma to change in while they changed outside. Once they were done, Ryoma tied her hair up in a ponytail, leaving her cap behind inside her bag as she also changed into her spare shoes.

Mifune returned later with the high schoolers, shovels in their hands. They threw the shovels in front of them and the coach instructed them to dig a hole, announcing he will be back in an hour then left with the high schoolers to train them.

They did as were told, digging into the ground as far as they could get before the hour was up. As expected, the drunk coach came back and told them to put the shovels away in the the storage room.

Most of them wondered the weird unorthodox training they received and speculating how there were better ways to train them. When they figured that it was useless to think about it, they moved back to the cabins only to find their coach loosening his belt and...

Yanagi pulled Ryoma away who complied, looking away from the scene.

Their coach only came back to treat the whole they dug as a toilet to piss on. Feeling quite insulted, the resident hotheads, namely, Shishido, Gakuto, Momoshiro and Kaidoh cursed at the coach who blatantly ignored them and ordered them once again to cover the whole up nicely.

"Yosh, fill them up." He ordered gruffly.

"You mean those holes we dug were just for him to take a piss?" Momoshiro growled.

"QUIT BITCHING AND FILL THE HOLES BACK IN!" he shouted, "MOVE IT! WHERE ARE YOUR SHOVELS!"

Reluctantly, they ran back to the storage room to get the shovels once again. Mifune watched over them lying beside a tree, drinking his liquor non-stop as they filled the holes up. Once they were done, Momoshiro sighed and his eyes fell to their jerseys...or where it _should_ have been.

"Oi, our jerseys are gone."

"I thought we left them there." Kawamura said.

"Eh…"

"They are there." They turned to look at their coach. He glance at their feet.

"Below you."

"You can't mean…" They just buried their own uniforms?!

Then an annoying laugh resounded through the woods.

"Isn't this great!" A certain pompadour high schooler looked at them smugly. "Your precious little jerseys aren't worth swat up here."

"You bastard, I've had enough of you!" Kaidoh stepped up, irritated.

"No, Kaidoh." Kawamura placed a hand on his junior's shoulder.

"Kaidoh, do not forget our goal." Sanada said making Kaidoh stop on his tracks. The sophomore loured at the older teen before clicking his tongue in dissatisfaction, noting he will have his go at that guy at another time.

* * *

A Few Days Later

.

It's been three days since they first arrived in the mountain camp. After spending time being the high schooler's gophers for water during morning practice, Coach Mifune tied them up feet first from the branches. He looks at them with a racquet in hand and a basket full of tennis balls.

Ryoma frowned a little at the slight unbalance of her movements as she tries to move, but quickly got the hang of it once she used her abdomen to manipulate and stabilize herself while being hung.

"If you drop the balls, you're getting no dinner for tonight!"

"E-Eh?!"

 _PAK!_

"W-Wait up!" Momoshiro wails out, unprepared when Coach Mifune hit a ball his way. Luckily he managed to catch it with his racket.

"Ora, Ora! No slacking off you trashes!"

 _PAK!_

 _PAK!_

"This is fun!" Kintarō of course, always found challenges fun. However, Ryoma did found herself enjoying this unorthodox training, no matter how harsh it was.

The next training was climbing the hill...with kiddie bikes.

The rest of the boys struggled to do so meanwhile Ryoma passed them with ease. She looks back at them with a smirk.

"Mada mada dane!"

Kintaro pouted and yelled, "NO WAY! You just have the advantage because you're smaller than us!"

This clearly pissed of the girl who yelled back at him,

"I'M NOT SHORT!"

"He never said that though…" Shishido muttered at the scene.

"In some ways, he did." Gakuto laughed.

"Tōyama, Ryoma-chan is really sensitive with her height, you should be more careful." Yūta chuckled nervously recalling the times he pissed off the younger girl with his remarks regarding her height.

"Mah, it is true." Kenya snickered.

"I CAN HEAR YOU GUYS YOU KNOW!" Ryoma yelled from the front. She continued to grumble as she quickened her pace, muttering sweet revenge when the time is right.

The rest of the boys felt a chill run up their spine for a moment there.

The moment they reached the destination, Ryoma was there waiting for them under the tree's shade with her arms crossed in front of her chest and her golden eyes glared at them icily.

"Took you long enough." She muttered.

"Nah, unlike you, this bike is too small for us to maneuver around!" Kintarō pointed out, completely oblivious to the effects his words were doing to the only girl in the team and forgetting the warning the younger Fuji told him a few minutes earlier.

"Kin-chan! Shut up!" Yuji frantically yelled at the boy, noticing the black aura surrounding the girl.

"Eh? Why? I'm just telling the truth!"

"Kin-chan, for your sake, I suggest you keep your mouth shut!" Kenya said nervously, sending quick glances at the glowering girl.

"Kin-ta-ro." Ryoma growled every syllable under her breath. Kintarō felt an ominous presence behind him to a point he shivered— finally somewhat understanding why his teammates has been warning him.

He quickly turned around to the dangerously smiling Ryoma and backed away, hands in front of him defensively.

"Care to say that one more time, Kintarō?"Her voice was eerily calm, but the glint in her eyes says otherwise. They promised painful consequences if the wrong words were uttered next.

"N-No thanks, I'm good." Kintarō cowered behind Koharu who chided him.

"I been telling you to watch your words."

"I thought so!" Ryoma smirked dangerously before pivoting on her heels and stalking off to cool down.

"Echizen...can be quite scary can she? In more ways than one…" Yanagi mutters from the sidelines.

"If only you knew…" Both Kaidoh and Momoshiro shuddered, remembering the times she threatened them.

"I swear Fuji-senpai has been tutoring her his ways."

"Oh? Fuji?" Sanada's interest piqued.

"Aa, Fuji-senpai and Echizen are close right? When they started to hang out often, Echizen's been merciless than usual." Momoshiro says, panting.

"—not like she never was…" Kaidoh added flatly.

"Sou, since then, I could see Fuji in her." Inui intercepted, shuddering at the image of a certain Seigaku tensai in his mind.

"Hah…"Yanagi trails off, frowning a bit.

"ARGH! Is that drunk really one of our coaches?! This is getting stupid!" Kenya bursts out.

"Speaking of...I wonder what they are doing right now…" Shishido voiced out.

"Who?" Kawamura asks.

"The winners of course." Shishido replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Goddamnit, while we're here dealing with this nonsense, we didn't even have any breakfast yet...they're probably well off…"

By this time, Ryoma came back from the woods and took a seat under the tree that she was taking spot earlier. Kintarō eyed the girl nervously, for once; he was trying to keep his mouth shut, noticing that her shoulders were still a bit tensed.

"Damn it! I can't take this anymore!" Momoshiro yells.

"Oi! What are you dilly dallying about you kids!" A bucket was thrown in front of them.

Once again the smug looks of the high schoolers greeted them.

"Bring us water. Quickly. " Without any more time to waste, Ryoma stood up and picked up one of the buckets.

"Jaa, I'll get going."

Their eyes followed her, somewhat surprised how submissive she has become. Despite being a tiny bit terrified of the younger girl, the super rookie of the west have always had a certain fascination with the rookie of the east— which could be quickly distinguished by the fact that he has stuck by her whenever he can. Thus, it was no wonder that Kintarō quickly followed her lead without any question at all.

"I'm coming, wait up!

"You two sure are energetic." Momoshiro pointed out sullenly.

"I just don't want to lose to them." was Ryoma's curt answer.

A few feet away in the shadows, green eyes studied them closely.

* * *

U-17 Camp

.

They were given a break after a long and tenacious training program. Dusk had fallen and a certain tensai of Seigaku could not shake off a forlorn feeling he has been receiving since the start of the day. Perhaps it might be the cautiousness he felt for a certain RIkkaidai captain? there was no other explanation, Fuji tried to convince himself.

Ever since the fact that Yukimura knew something he didn't, made him even more cautious of him than he already was. He knew that Yukimura held a certain degree of interest with the Rookie of the East, namely Echizen Ryoma.

Yukimura and Echizen had a slight history.

It was during that moment when Ryoma visited the hospital in order to get her eyes checked because of the match against Fudomine.

Ryoma met Yukimura.

The two shared a rather odd relationship. Yukimura and Ryoma shared a likeness of understanding with one another. They weren't friends or any of that sorts, but Ryoma found herself drawn towards the captain— as stated by the girl herself.

Ryoma based it off on her intuition that she knew there was something special with Yukimura. When she found out he played tennis and his situation, it became even clearer to her.

Although Ryoma never showed any heavy sentiments towards the Rikkaidai captain, catching Ryoma's attention alone was a difficult feat to begin with. It was during the start of the National Tournament that he found out about the oddities between their rookie and their rival team's captain.

To say the least he was not pleased.

He attempted to voice out her affiliations with him but Ryoma quickly shut him off by making a point that he should trust her more, to which he reflected upon knowing that Ryoma probably thought he was cautious because he was a rival team.

"Damn it...first Tezuka, now _him_." Fuji hissed, walking along the corridor.

"I just can't get a break now can't I?" Fuji muttered to himself derisively.

He remembered the satisfaction he felt that moment when they battled in the rain. That glint in Ryoma's eyes when she looked at him, that fire and passion they both shared under the frigid waters that poured over them that afternoon. That brief moment where their minds linked as they stared each other down, exchanging taunts and smirks, the _thrill_ they both shared facing each other across the courts. He got her attention, and that was all it mattered, Fuji _loved_ it. He swore then that he would make Ryoma look at him, and _only_ him.

Yet he was a failure, he could not rub off the admiration Ryoma had for their captain, Tezuka, then there was Sanada as well.

Their youngest only seemed to accumulate more preys over the time, her eyes always fixated forward to whoever was strong and worthy of defeating and she never looked back at him, not even once— not after Sanada or Tezuka's constant matches invading her mind.

Although, on the other hand, he was relieved that Ryoma once pointed out that she did not feel any romantic sentiments towards their captain when he teased her about it. Seeing her seriously deny it without faltering just made it better, it just proved how sure she was of her own words.

Furthermore, he was the one that made her flustered instead. Fuji sighed, calming himself down as he remembered the time he teased her about Tezuka.

...

 _Fuji looked closely at Ryoma who stared after Tezuka's back. Tezuka had chastised Ryoma for her reckless actions to which Ryoma dutifully accepted, like a pup to her owner._

 _He frowned at the sight, inwardly sighing to himself. He felt a little bit sick to his stomach, jealousy was an ugly emotion. Instead of mulling too much about the negative feeling rearing to the surface however, Fuji decides to brush it aside and tries to find a solution to stir up the girl beside him instead._

 _He wants her to look at him at the very moment._

 _"Ryoma-chan…" He calls softly._

 _"Shūsuke-senpai?" she blinks, turning to him._

 _"Do you...Like Tezuka?"_

 _Silence._

 _Blink._

 _"Hah?" Ryoma looked at him incredulously. Fuji's eyebrows raised, not expecting this kind of dry reaction from her at all._

 _But then her chuckles rang in his ears. His eyes opened, shocked at the reaction he was receiving from her, confused what made things so funny. Moreover, it wasn't everyday one would see Echizen Ryoma showing such unguarded emotions. Fuji decided he loved that rare scene of her._

 _"What made you come up with that idea, Shūsuke-senpai?" She smirked._

 _"H-hah...Well you seem to admire him a lot." Fuji reasoned out, completely thrown off his game— for once in fact, he didn't think ahead._

 _"Exactly, I admire him. "_

 _"Eh?"_

 _"That's just how it is...I respect him. If I were to label things...I'd say he's like an older brother to me." She gave a small smile._

 _Fuji hummed, "Mah...If one didn't know better, they'd say that you're in love with him. Because of how're you're acting." He mumbled, pointing out the facts._

 _"Eh? Really?" Ryoma blinked. He mentally face-palmed himself, of course, this was Echizen. The most oblivious girl he knows. Why was he even surprised?_

 _"Yeah." He muttered._

 _"Nah...Buchou's actions doesn't make me feel that way, though." Ryoma murmurs quietly, her eyebrows meeting at the middle._

 _Fuji thought for a moment before smirking once again when he found an opening. Taking this chance, he pushed a hand against the wall behind her, making her back up._

 _"What are you doing?" She blinked curiously at his actions. Fuji merely smiled with his lids sliding open, allowing his cerulean eyes to pierce her unsuspecting golden orbs. He leans in close to her, faces mere inches apart._

 _"Then what kind of actions do make you feel that way, Ryoma?" his voice suddenly sounded lower than usual, and Fuji swore he saw her cheeks redden and her breath hike up when his breath grazed her ears. He just wished the colors of the sunset weren't there so he could clarify if she did blush, if not for the heat he felt being near her face, he never would have suspected._

 _"Shūsuke-sen—"_

 _"Drop the honorifics…" He says._

 _"Hah?"_

 _"I want to hear it."_

 _"Senpai, you're being weird today." Ryoma placed a hand on his chest, gently pushing him away._

 _Knowing he shouldn't move too fast, Fuji complies and allowed this one to slide. He was already satisfied with the results. This was a step further through her, there was no need to rush, he chanted inside his head._

 _All he needed to do was slowly drop the hints, it was enough and he had all the time to lure her in. A girl like Ryoma needed time, she was dense, too focused and over all— different from the usual girls that fantasize about finding their true love during their free time._

 _He was in no rush, yet he knew he must act. Too many are interested in her, and a lot are too aggressive for their own good. Even if Ryoma was dense, he will have to let them know that Ryoma was his at the end of the day._

 _Fuji's eyes momentarily darkened at the thought, yes; those boys in her class, the fanclub and some of his fellow third years even had their eyes on her. He felt pleased that Ryoma's naïveté regarding romantic notions played to his favour in this case._

 _"Ah sorry, sorry. I was just messing with you," he chuckles and pulls away, giving her space._

 _"Well, shall we walk you home now?" He offers her his hand but she declined while giving him a pensive look so his eyes slid close in a form of half moons and his usual smile plastered on his face as he pivots around, grabbing both their bags, beginning their journey to her household._

 _"I really have weird ass senpais." ...was the only sentence he heard as she follows quiet behind him._

 _..._

Fuji then chuckles softly at the memory, reminiscing the old times where things were just a bit more carefree. Those were the times he spent more with Ryoma during school and after school.

He missed those days.

But his chuckle died down when he was brought back to the present. Fuji stopped on his tracks when a draping coat disappeared into the corner ahead. He knew only one person with that signature appearance.

He quickly ran to the area and he was right.

"Yukimura." He calls out.

The said teen turns around in response.

"What is it?" He calmly inquired.

"About Ryoma...how did you know? What made you so sure where she is?"

Yukimura stares at him for a moment, as if contemplating whether to tell him or not. Fuji clenched his fists in annoyance when he saw this action, he had every right to know— he was her teammate.

But deep in his mind, a voice betrayed his line of thoughts. Was it really just because he was an entitled teammate?

 _No. Definitely not._

Yukimura gives it a thought then sighs,

"I don't exactly know what, but I'm sure she is safe. I overheard the coaches. I'm sure they'll come back...stronger than ever." He says, confusing Fuji.

"They?"

"I was confused at first, but I concluded that the losers are not on their way home. In fact, I think— just like us, they might be training right now." He speculated. Fuji caught on.

"So you mean—"

Yukimura nods, "Aa, if so to say that Ryoma was considered disqualified— hence she is lumped together with the others, we can safely assume she is with them currently."

Yukimura eyes Fuji carefully when the tensai's smile came to view. That _soft_ smile that could only mean something deep that he himself understood.

The Child of God frowned.

"That puts me at ease." Fuji mumbles.

"Fuji…" he trails off, earning the other's attention. He paused, thinking what to say. Finding that he could not think of any way to voice out his thoughts, Yukimura turned around his heels.

"Nothing." He made his leave but Fuji's next statement made his stop.

"If you were about to ask what I felt for Ryoma, you probably guessed it right." Fuji's voice had a confident tone in it. Yukimura merely glared at the glassed wall in front of him— at Fuji's reflection.

"I'm in love with her." Fuji declared.

"longer than you ever had."

Yukimura's face darkened, eyes glimmering dangerously. "Saa...I don't think the past has got to do with whoever wins her affection in the end...Fuji Shūsuke."

"I know, but it will not change the fact she sees me more of a man than she will to you, Yukimura. I made my mark already."

Yukimura's deep sapphire eyes darkened at a sudden memory back at the Nationals.

"We'll see about that." He flatlined.

Yukimura was about to face Fuji but then that wretched uneasiness he has been feeling throughout the day had gotten worse. He stood still, comprehending the alienating hunch he's been getting.

A certain girl flashed in his mind.

"Ryoma…" the both of them whispered.

A millisecond, Yukimura was shocked that they both thought of the same person but Fuji was quicker to react.

"Ryoma!" Fuji then bolted towards the nearest phone booth provided inside the facility, running back to their dorms would be too far. Yukimura followed him closely and Fuji dialed his teammate's phone number.

After a few rings, his calls went to the answering machine. He dialed the number once again but still held the same results.

"Damnit!" Fuji slams his fist on the counter.

"Sanada isn't picking up as well, nor is Renji." Yukimura reported alarmingly.

"The coach must've warned them away from their phones?"Yukimura wondered, cursing in his mind. The timing couldn't be any worse!

Fuji tries to remember Inui's number and dials it, wishing to god that he at least would answer.

 _'Please pick it up, Inui…'_

A minute of ringing felt like forever to them, then finally...

 _"Hello?"_ Inui's voice came through.

"Inui?! Thank god you answered—is Ryoma with you?!" He asked quickly.

 _"E-Eh? Fuji? How did you—_ "

"Inui!" He repeated his name with much vigor and alarm that Inui clammed up.

"Tell me, is Ryoma with you?"

 _"N-No...she just went somewhere to change...why?"_

"Check up on her, now!"

" _E-Eh?!"_

"Please Inui, just do it!"

 _"I don't know what makes you so frantic, but alright."_ They could hear shuffling then a footsteps.

 _"Has Echizen come back yet?_ " Inui's voice could be heard.

 _"Eh? No, she hasn't yet."_ Momoshiro's voice replied.

" _She's sure taking her time, isn't she?"_ Fuji recognized the voice to be Hyotei's Gakuto.

 _"Mah, she's still a girl."_ Then Shitenhouji's Koharu.

 _"But still— this is taking too long."_ Sanada's baritone voice rang through.

 _"She's normally quick."_ His younger brother, Yūta chipped in.

 _"We should go check up on her…"_ it was Hiyoshi Wakashi, surprisingly.

"Dammit...they're stalling too long!" Fuji grumbled, feeling frustrated due to the uneasiness in his gut.

 _"Yanagi, come with me."_ Sanada said.

 _"I'm coming with._ " It was Hiyoshi once again.

 _"Me too!"_ Momoshiro.

 _"Ffshhh...I'll tag along."_

 _"Let's go check up on her._ " Inui then starts walking, several footsteps could be heard and both the sadists assumed it was those who voiced up that they would accompany them.

There was a few minutes of silence. Nothing but hearing Momoshiro's complaints of Ryoma's whereabouts and how she always goes off on her own.

But then the sudden change of alert in Yanagi's voice stopped them.

 _"Did you hear that?"_

 _"Ah— it came from there!"_

 _"Aren't those some of the high schoolers?"_

 _"Wait…"_

 _"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU BASTARDS DOING?!"_ Sanada roared, loud enough for even both Fuji and Yukimura to wince.

The phone was filled with static then,

 _Beep._

Fuji stared at the phone in disbelief, uncertainty eating him up. What just happened?! Yukimura felt the same way...somehow, that tone in Sanada's voice did not sound good at all.

The two rivals stared at each other, dread worsening more so than they could imagine.

* * *

Mountain

.

 _THUMP!_

"You're still just a girl after all, outside the courts." The ringleader of the small group of three snickered as he threw her against the tree.

She held her white shirt in front of her, an attempt to cover herself as she glared defiantly and silently at the three older teens before her.

She had just went a few meters away from the camp in order to change but these bastards waited until she was in a vulnerable enough situation to launch at her and drag her off deeper into the woods.

"You bitch, what's with that look, ahh!?" He slapped her.

"Just because you beat the best of our team doesn't mean that you can look down on us! How cocky can you get!" He growled, yanking her shirt away from her grasp, leaving her with nothing but her black sports bra for them to see.

He smirks while his companions shared filthy looks.

"Outside the courts, we will always overwhelm you. You girls should just shut up and stay obedient." He signals the two who acted on autopilot. They grabbed each of her arms, pinning her down to the ground.

Ryoma became alert, suddenly realizing her current predicament. Surely they wouldn't!

"Then again, perhaps you are godsent! You might be younger but definitely we can't deny how alluring you look," He laughed. "Do you even realize how the boys see you here?"

The ring leader knelt between her legs, and she tried to close her legs tightly, thrashing around to loosen their grips on her as well.

"My, my, feisty aren't we? Such a vixen, acting so cocky and hard to get, as if you're above us, when really— you probably enjoy having all these men around you don't you?!" He screamed to her face, eyes crazed.

 _"The fuck I don't you fucking prick!"_ She retorts, finding this as an opening and head butted the ring leader who yelped in pain.

It was only out of desperation, she did not think of the consequences and suffered the blow caused by herself as well.

 _'Fuck!'_

There goes her chance. She could feel arms pinning her down again, this time she was light headed from the pain, rendering her harmless to the attackers.

"You bitch! You'll pay for that!" He slaps her once again, the hit caused her to wince at the effect that it almost racked her brain.

" _You fucking bastards…"_ Ryoma managed to utter, wiggling her limbs to break free.

 _"LET ME GO!_ " She hissed at them— a feeble attempt to intimidate her attackers.

"I'll show you that you should know your place!" She felt cold fingertips brush her against the skin of her stomach, then a tug on the hem of her shorts. She frantically tries to kick him off but to no avail, she was too weak at the moment to fight back.

 _'This can't be happening.'_

She felt the hem of her shorts slide down slowly and she could do nothing but brace herself. She failed to notice the tears trailing down her cheeks.

 _Someone…_

Just when her short was tugged a quarter down from her hips, a voice roared throughout the silent woods.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU BASTARDS DOING?!"

"OUCH!" The ring leader winced when a metallic item was thrown at his head.

Her eyes snapped open.

 _'Genichirō-san!'_ She knows that voice anywhere.

It was a blur but she saw the man before her getting plummeted by non other than Hiyoshi. And the two high schoolers were taken by Kaidoh and Momoshiro senpai. Yanagi used wood as a makeshift bokuto and knocked the two out meanwhile Hiyoshi easily dealt with the ring leader.

Sanada came to her aid, wrapping his arms around her in a somewhat frantic attempt to cover her from the rest of the world.

This was one of those times Ryoma reluctantly accepted her vulnerability and embraced Sanada. Feeling shook that she was almost about to be violated.

"Trashes, sleep." Yanagi calmly says, yielding a makeshift bokuto.

"Che, scumbags." Hiyoshi hissed, kicking the ringleader in the guts causing him to groan in pain.

"M-my phone…" Inui groaned in dismay, feeling like he wants to cry for his phone. It died on him, then he wailed.

"All those data!"

"It's not really broken yet...inui-senpai." Momoshiro said offhandedly before rushing to his junior.

"Echizen, are you okay?! They haven't done anything to you yet, have they?!" Momoshiro asked, fretting over his kouhai who was in nothing more than shorts and her bra.

Ryoma shook her head, looking at Momoshiro with strained eyes.

"You came at the right time..." She gave a strained smirk.

"Thank god…" Momoshiro exhaled, falling to his rear—suddenly losing his strength.

Ryoma bit her lower lip, "I…"

"Echizen, here." Yanagi found her shirt and handed it to her.

"Cover yourself up first, Ryoma." Sanada said softly at the shaken girl.

Ryoma hesitantly nodded and wore her shirt before Sanada stood up.

"Can you stand?..."

Ryoma nods once again as she was being helped by Sanada on her feet.

"Momoshiro-san, Kaidoh-san, could you help me tie up these scumbags? We'll have to report them for attempted assault." Hiyoshi asked the two, currently using the perpetrator's shoelaces as rope.

"A-ah, that's a good idea." Momoshiro replied, walking towards the unconscious lackeys and rolling one on his stomach. Kaidoh mimicked Momoshiro's actions then used their shoelaces as a rope to tie the hands.

"I think I can pitch in for the report, Wakashi." Yanagi says, leering over the unconscious perpetrators.

"I have connections to the Chief of Metropolitan Police Department, it will be easy to charge them for this offense." Rikkai's Master informed.

Once they were done, Inui was still sobbing about his phone irritating Momoshiro who yelled at his senpai to get over it and that they could possibly fix it. Momoshiro quickly asked Inui to assist them with the culprits in order to transport them to the cabins.

Just as when they were about to move to return to the camp, Ryoma tugged at Sanada's shirt; causing the Third year to look back at her.

"Genichirō-san, Yanagi-san…Hiyoshi...Momo-senpai, Kaidoh-senpai...Inui-senpai…" she looks up with strained eyes.

"Could we please not talk about this to the others?...if possible we could keep quiet about this as much as possible…" it came out barely as a whisper.

"But, Echizen! What are you saying?!" Momoshiro retorted.

"Please, I don't want to be a distraction to everyone...the lesser the people knows about this, the better." She tries to reason out, sighing tiredly.

"At least Fuji should know." Inui adjusted his glasses. The rest look at him with confusion at the mention of the tensai's name.

"Shūsuke -senpai?" Ryoma blinked, confused.

"Fuji-senpai?" Momoshiro repeated.

"Aa, he was the one who asked for you. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't have come looking for you and waited," Inui explained.

"Thankfully enough, I was coincidentally taking out my other pen since my current one ran out of ink. So I heard the call— he seemed frantic you know?"

Ryoma was at loss for words, Shūsuke knew? No, he felt her danger?

Ryoma's expression turned solemn, it wasn't impossible, after all, there were rare occasions when her intuition kicked in; furthermore that moment when her oyaji sensed his friend's danger years back.

Coincidence or not, Shūsuke's intuition saved her from a horrible end.

"I...I'll thank him personally, when we return to the camp." She nods at her senior.

"I could call him again, to let him know at least." Inui offered...but then he recalled what happened to his phone. His serious expression turned defeated and began sulking by the tree.

"Oh...that's right, my phone's dead…" Inui's mumbled, hugging his knees.

"Ah...should I apologize for throwing his phone?..." Hiyoshi muttered unsurely, scratching his cheek.

"Inui-senpai, stop moping and come back to earth!" Momoshiro sighed exasperatedly.

Ryoma chuckled at the scene, causing the boys to turn to her.

"Did you hit your head or something, Echizen?" Kaidoh said.

"That's right, how can you be laughing considering what just happened?" Momoshiro seconded.

Ryoma shook her head and allowed her chuckle to die down, "True, but you guys prevented it from happening right?" This time, for once her smile was genuine. No matter how small it seemed; the rare smile given by the cocky and arrogant freshman was a sight to see indeed.

"That's all that matters... I'd rather move on from it than dwell on it." She appeared vehement, but Sanada noticed the grip on his shirt tightening ever so slightly.

 _'Ryoma…'_ Sanada stared at the girl, taking in her expression as she gave off a grin so uncharacteristic of her.

He could clearly see she was doing this for everyone's sake. Even if she was proud and partly did not want anyone to know of things that would make her seem weak— he knew the bigger picture was that she was trying to prevent anyone getting too bothered about what happened to her. If they did, that would mean it would affect them mentally one way or another and would just drag them down.

The Emperor sighs, nodding.

"Fine, we shall all keep this to ourselves." He announced, sending each and everyone a firm stare. It was an instant only— that he gained others approval, they quickly caught on to her train of thoughts.

"Thank you." How her voice seemed so tiny broke them a little bit inside. It was so unlike Ryoma to seem vulnerable even under the strong guise she was trying to convey.

The boys could only give her nothing more than a reassuring smile, a tap on her shoulder and an affectionate ruffle on her head.

To show they were there to protect her no matter what.

* * *

 _A/N: Thoughts?_


	7. Chapter 7: Mission Impossible

**Take Two**

* * *

 _Description: Echizen Ryoma receives an invitation letter to Under 17 Training camp in Japan. Having conquered tournaments in the west, she flies back to Japan and set her sights in new heights. TokuRyo YukiRyoma FujiRyo_

* * *

 **Chapter VII: Mission Impossible!**

Mountains

It had been days since the incident concerning three high schoolers and Echizen Ryoma. The situation has been dealt secretly and fairly with justice after reporting it to coach Mifune soon after they confined the unconscious boys inside the storage room. Mifune addressed the incident with utmost significance once he heard what had occured.

He was livid, something that Ryoma, Momoshiro, Kaidoh, Yanagi, Inui, Hiyoshi and Sanada did not expect from the old drunkard. The moment they had come to approach him in the middle of the night and told him about it— he was merciless.

...

 _After imprisoning the unconscious perpetrators inside the storage room temporarily; Sanada, Yanagi and Inui left Hiyoshi and Momoshiro along with Ryoma to stay on guard outside the door while they went to fetch the sleeping coach inside his personal cabin._

 _The three third-years made a stop and Sanada took the liberty to knock on the door. The first few times, the coach didn't answer; and honestly it infuriated the Rikkai fukubuchou. After having witness such a thing almost happen to someone he and the others have grown fond of; it wasn't something they could take lightly._

 _Refraining himself from shouting atop his lungs, Sanada punched the door twice, earning half-assed protest from both Data Masters behind him. After all, what could he do? He can't shout in order to get that drunk asshole's attention, or else the cat might as well be out of the bag and he would be doing the opposite of what Ryoma wished for._

' _Ryoma…'_

" _Genichirō, calm down." Yanagi's calming voice tried to soothe him, knowing full well what the his teammate was feeling._

" _I know—" Sanada breathed, knocking heavily on the door once more._

 _Before he could attempt at another hit, the door swung open to reveal a sober man who did not looked too pleased at being awoken from his slumber._

" _What do you want?" He asked in a quiet but threatening voice._

 _The three boys grimaced at the intimidating aura he was oozing off but steeled themselves as they remembered their purpose for even awake so late._

" _You all should be asleep by now." He gruffed out, looking down on them with calculating eyes._

" _Something serious happened…"Sanada started slowly, finding courage to look at him straight in the eye. This earnt a quirk by Mifune's eyebrow._

" _What is it?" He asks, voice dropping as he anticipated. Seeing their serious expressions with hidden rage beneath their calm eyes irked his curiosity._

" _Our teammate, Echizen Ryoma was attacked by some of the high schoolers." This time Inui finished the sentence, finding it unnecessary to waste time idling around and hesitating._

" _Attacked?"_

" _Sexually assaulted, to be exact." Yanagi corrected._

 _This time, Mifune was definitely awake. His shoulder tensed ever so slightly and this did not go unnoticed by the middle schoolers._

" _The girl?"_

" _Hai…"_

 _What surprised them next was that Mifune threw his beloved gourd to the wall and it landed on his bed. The look of silent animosity in his glinting green eyes honestly gave them shivers, but they wouldn't admit it._

 _Mifune stormed out of the cabin and asked them where the teenagers were. Yanagi helpfully led him towards the storage where they explained how they used it to temporarily imprison the three before any further judgements were to be made._

 _Upon arriving at the scene, Mifune simply gave a tired looking Ryoma a glance and a grunt as he passed by. He slammed the doors open, right in time that the boys came to a few minutes ago._

 _What happened next was even something they had not expected. He grabbed each of them and punched them straight across the face._

" _You fucking idiots." He grits out, throwing the last one onto the ground harshly._

" _You shitheads are over. Your sports career are over." He says, crouching down at them._

" _This might be the mountains where rules do not apply, however I do not condone such acts. This is still part of the training camp and I will be reporting your crimes to the board." He stands up, walking to the side and fished out a rope from the wooden storage._

 _Before he would do anything though, he looks at them and said,_

" _You kids go and rest. I won't be going easy on you later this morning even with this incident; so I suggest you all get sleep." He grunted, turning to the whimpering attackers._

" _Now go," he looks over his shoulders to peer at them._

 _They all gulped in nervousness, knowing well how terrifying the drunkard's temper could get when they don't obey quickly to his orders. Therefore, Sanada placed a hand on Ryoma's shoulder._

 _The Rikkai fukubuchou frowned a little when he felt her tense shoulders for a second before it sagged. He noticed the slight release of breathe from his contact and he concluded that she must still be shook._

 _He couldn't blame her. He could imagine how terrifying and horrible it must have felt to be under such a situation— even if it was Echizen Ryoma; she was still a girl after all. He didn't want to imagine what would have happened had they not arrived on time or never at all._

" _Let's go...Ryoma…" he softly says, pressuring her shoulder to follow his lead and she did._

 _The rest followed closely behind, all discussing how to cover up the story._

…

Sanada glances at the girl a few feet away from him with discretion, subconsciously observing her from the corner of his eyes as they ran uphill with the buckets full of water in hand. One of the many usual drill they do every morning.

Many of them may have been fooled by that smirk on her face, her playful taunts and snarky replies, but Sanada Genichirō was no fool. Despite the fact that Ryoma herself assured them she was fine, he knew the girl too well.

Her acting was great, but nothing escapes Sanada's watchful eye— even if it was Echizen Ryoma; no, _because_ she was Echizen Ryoma.

Sanada doesn't miss the weary glances she sends the older group whenever they approach, the slight tensing of her shoulders and that guarded expression on her face. She was still arrogant and snarky, probably to keep the act believable to him and the others, but she would not allow herself to be alone with any of the high schoolers and often notices her beside him or her Seigaku seniors.

Sighing softly to himself, he contemplates about what to do. Several days, yet he has not found it in himself to confront her on what she really felt despite _knowing_ her discomfort with the whole event.

Perhaps it was the fact that she was uncomfortable that Sanada did not want her to remember such a horrible incident. However, should he really let it be? Should he really stay quiet and allow Ryoma to recover on her own because he did not want to remind her of anything?

He and Yanagi had discussed it amongst themselves; surprisingly enough, even Momoshiro came to them as well on Kaidoh's behalf in regards about what transpired. Both revealed they were also _lost_ and didn't know how to approach Ryoma about it, obviously they wanted comfort her— let her know she could depend on them emotionally as well.

Yet here they were, stuck between two choices.

Sanada inwardly shook his head, perhaps they was thinking too much into it.

"Ryoma! Slow down your pace, you're way ahead of us!" Sanada calls out to her.

The girl simply looked back at him with a smirk and refused to decrease her pace. "Mada mada suyo!" She yells out as Kintarō rushed past her with a howl of laughter.

"HAHA! Koshimae, your speed is too slow!"

"What did you say Kinta?! SPEED?! If this is about speed then I can't lose!" Kenya shouts from behind and began to accelerate to the front.

"NO SPEED, NO LIFE!"

"Eh?!"

"Geh! They're getting way ahead!" Momoshiro stated good heartedly,

"as a senpai, I can't lose to my kouhai's eagerness, I just can't!" So Momoshiro followed the front.

"Fshuuu, no you don't!" Kaidoh growls out and races in front of Momoshiro.

Due to this, the Seigaku second years began their mundane quarrel whilst racing each other; magnificently they had increased their pace whilst doing so— too quick that their figures got smaller until they recede into the distance, leaving a trail of smoke in their wake.

"...and there they go…" Shishido stated flatly.

"They're such kids." Gakuto huffed.

"It's so nice they have it easy...always fooling around even during training, are they even serious? Those two keep on arguing every single day, there is also a hot-head beside me who is just as childish as they are, Echizen-kun is improving drastically though...I can't have that, I need to catch up…" Ibu rants under his breath quietly, unaware of the looks he was getting from the rest.

"Hoh~? We can't lose this race! Kabaji, let's go!" Ryoma smirked when Kabaji grunted in agreement and quickened her pace even more as the emotionless hulk followed her steps.

"Ugh, whatever— count me in this 'race'." Hiyoshi muttered.

"LIKE HELL I'M LOSING EITHER!" Tanashi hightailed pass them.

"Pupina." Niou mentally snickered at Sanada's ticked off face.

"The probably of Genichirō snapping in a matter of seconds, 95.30%" Yanagi uttered beside the trickster.

"No, make that 97%, Renji." Inui smirked, amused at the Rikkaidai vice-captain.

Sanada's head was bent down, eyes covered under the shadows emitted from his cap but they could see his lips thin out. Veins started popping and finally…

"YOU FOOLS!" Sanada screamed, dashing quickly towards the bunch. He rushed by the others in a flash and ended up being the first one to arrive at the makeshift Tennis court above the cliff.

Ryoma, Kintarō, Kenya and a few others who reached the destination afterwards felt small under Sanada's intense aura.

"W-What happened to him?" Kintarō stuttered.

"HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO POINT OUT WE HAVE TO LEARN CONSERVE ENERGY?! AND STOP ACTING LIKE CHILDREN—"

"Genichirō-san...you're the one oozing out of energy." Ryoma pointed out in a matter-of-fact tone.

"We aren't acting like children too." Kintarō pouted with a sideways 'che'.

Sanada felt a vein pop once again at the two freshmen's statement, "As I was saying, learning how to conserve energy is also a learning curvature for this type of training." He says calmly, but one could see he was trying hard not to lose it once again.

"Che." Ryoma averted her eyes, having no comeback for that.

"Sure sure, _dad."_ She said aloud, turning back and picking up her empty bucket which one of the high schoolers already drank.

"D-DAD—?!" Sanada turned white and felt an arrow struck through his chest.

Kintarō laughed out loud and the rest snickered to themselves as they saw life escape Sanada's ajar mouth.

"Cause, you act more like a father than my baka oyaji." She snickered then dashed away before Sanada could give another protest at her.

* * *

Evening came by quickly, it was now about ten o'clock in the evening and it was both lights out for everyone. Unlike before, those who knew of the incident hadn't let Ryoma out of their sight and the least she could be away from them at nighttime or changing was about five meters away as they stood guard—although they always tried to be less obvious about their sudden cautiousness regarding the girl to the others; thankfully, no one noticed yet.

As they prepare to go to bed inside the cave, a loud banging of something solid against a can ricocheted against the cave walls, causing them to groan and get up.

They turned to the source of the disturbance only to see their drunk coach.

"Practice starts now!" He bellowed.

The announcement earnt grunts and whines of misbeliefs from the middle schoolers as they protested that it was midnight and they should be rested for tomorrow's regime as well but the coach didn't bother to listen and ordered out for them to get up and grab hold of their racquets to do 10,000 swings.

"T-ten thousand?!" Shishido exclaims, questioning himself if he heard that right.

Mifune nods at them, "Aa, do that and once you're finished— you may go back to rest."

The rest of the middle schoolers looked flabbergasted whilst a few selected quickly went to position with their racquets in order to begin.

When Ryoma was just about to do the same, she heard the coach call for her, Kenya and Tanishi. Upon turning to him who just beckoned for them to come closer with his finger, the three exchanged looks before doing so.

"You three will be doing something else." He started, taking out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Ryoma.

"You will be procuring those items on the list."

The three began reading through the list of items to procure and wondered; just how were they going to get _these?_ They sent the coach a questioning stare who seemed to have caught onto what they were thinking and he spoke,

"Go deeper into the cave," he pointed behind him with his thumb and threw three drawstring bags at them.

"You'll find instructions there." He grinned cunningly and Ryoma did _not_ like that glint in his eyes. She knew this man had an agenda. Whatever was in store for them can't be good.

However, a task was a task.

With a nod; the only female amongst the middle schoolers left deeper into the cave wordlessly, causing Kenya and Tanishi to scamper after her.

"Oi, Ryoma— you can't be serious about getting these stuff right?" Kenya asked as he caught up.

The girl stayed silent until she saw something up ahead. They stopped in front of a rock that had a letter and a gourd that probably only belonged to one person.

"This must be the instructions he was talking about." Ryoma mumbled, picking up the paper.

Tanishi snatched it out from her hand and tore the envelope apart, taking out the letter inside and began mumbling as he read through the letter.

"What's it saying?" Kenya asked.

"This mission is very dangerous…"

"Uhuh, I figured so." The Kansaijin nods to himself. "Then?"

"We gotta go to the camp...and...fetch...bottle…" He didn't even get to the middle part and he was obviously having a hard time trying to read the paragraphs in Kanji.

Meanwhile Kenya was getting impatient and snatched it away from Tanishi, shoving the letter into Ryoma's hands.

"Echizen! You read it!" Ryoma blinks and sighed.

"Let's see…" She mumbles, grazing her vision across paragraph of characters before she began reading out loud for the two.

"The following is your mission. First off, mission one, you will sneak into the camp and acquire the following items from the storage shed. 100 tennis balls, 50 bar soaps and 10 bottles of shampoo and conditioner. Afterwards, you will go to the staff bar lounge in the dorms and acquire high quality sake. Make this special mission to acquire sake your top priority over the others, I have provided two maps for you three to use in case you have troubles navigating your way and it should be inside one of the bags." The three face faulted at the last part of the letter.

"Basically he just wants us to steal sake for him." Ryoma deadpanned.

"That drunkard." Kenya sighed exasperatedly.

"But why choose us three though?" Tanishi voiced out.

"There's more though…" Ryoma says, continuing the letter. "You may be wondering why I chose you,—"

"—Wha?! Is he psychic?!" Kenya commented.

"—when selecting you, your ultimate balance of personalities, physical abilities and flexibility, and quick decision making in dangerous situations were not deciding factors, but rather, you three just happened to be there." This statement made Ryoma's eyebrow twitch.

' _Is he serious?'_ She thought.

"That's it?!"

"Incidentally, if you happen to fail this mission and get yourselves into trouble; it's none of my problem. Best of luck." She finished.

"Is he for real?!" Kenya fumed, their coach was unbelievable!

"But mah...I guess we have no choice…"Tanishi says unsurely.

"Ah, wait—" Ryoma trails off once she noticed there was a sentence she forgot to read. Narrowing her eyes to focus her vision,

"Also...this letter will self-destruct?!"

"EH?!" Ryoma hastily lets go of the letter as if scalded and all three jumped away from it cautiously.

A few seconds in, nothing really happened so they relaxed. However; it was too soon to do so when they began to heard cackling from the deeper side of the cave. Sounds of flapping were heard and later on, they all freaked out when bats flew towards them aggressively

"This is probably what he meant by self destruct!" Ryoma grits out as she hightailed towards the right fork where it was clear.

"But bats?!" Kenya yells, running beside her.

"I-I'm bad with bats!" Tanishi stammered.

"Anyway, let's just run!" Kenya yells.

Ryoma's eyes widened by the time her eyes fixated on the dimmest light coming from somewhere above the ceiling of the cave and saw an abrupt end to their path.

"WAIT!—" She skidded to a stop. The two boys did as was told and realized why she had done so.

"A DEAD END?!" Tanishi exclaimed nervously, freaking out when the bats neared them.

"That!" Ryoma points towards the pillars in the middle of the river; "we can use that to get across." She says, hopping over the pillars easily and successfully landed on the other side.

Tanishi had no problems mimicking her actions and in no time he was beside her. Ryoma glanced at the heavy boy and comments, "You're quite agile aren't you? Despite everything."

Tanishi pouted and retorts, "What's that supposed to mean?!"

Before Ryoma could answer, Kenya's surprised yelp gained their attention in time only to see the Kansaijin falling towards the water but ended up running…on top of it.

"When it comes to speed I won't lose! But my sense of balance is terrible!" Kenya grinds out as he quickened his pace in an attempt to move to the other side.

"On the contrary...what you're doing is even more amazing…" Seigaku's pillar flatly commented as she watched Shitenhouji's Oshitari running on water.

"Wow, is Oshitari a ninja?" Higa's big bang user blinks in astonishment at the sight before him. "I thought only ninjas and Jesus can do that."

His face turned white, "don't tell me— is he Jesus?!"

"There's no way he is, _ahou_." Ryoma sent the huge boy a blank look, left hand on hip."With all the things happening around us, is this really something to be freaking out about? You people train martial arts…" she trails off.

"We do but Kite-buchou can't even walk on water!"

"Well, he's….running, not walking." Ryoma nonchalantly points to the struggling Speed Star.

"Oi— you two stop talking and help me out!" Kenya yells from below.

"Ah." Tanishi bends down, stretching a helping hand towards Kenya; yet just an inch away— he completely froze and fell into the water.

"Don't give up in the middle!" Was all Ryoma could muster when she herself has been dragged down by Tanishi in a desperate attempt to hold onto something when the edge cracked under his weight, resulting his fall into the water as well.

' _These idiots!'_ Ryoma mentally screamed to herself, getting washed away by the strong water current.

* * *

It turns out that the river they were being washed away in was a waterfall connected to another river just outside the U-17 camping grounds. All three of them were fine thankfully enough and nobody seemed to be suffering from injuries at all. As they stepped onto land, Ryoma inspected the area closer to the dormitories.

Upon surveying the first area, Ryoma ran back to the other two and led them towards the camp. She paused once her eyes caught sight of a security a few meters ahead and ordered them to hide behind the bush.

"The security is insane!" Kenya hissed in a hushed tone, almost as if complaining whilst his eyes darted at the opposite corner of their destination, seeing five securities each with doberman on leash and another three at the direction they were headed.

"Un...It will be difficult to get past them undetected." Ryoma muttered, lowering herself into the bush.

"If they find us, we're surely dead!"

"I change my mind, let's leave." Tanishi mumbled.

"No, we aren't." Ryoma hissed at him. "We're seeing this mission through."

"But Echizen, this mission doesn't even have anything to do with friggin tennis!" Kenya retorts, trying to knock sense into the girl.

"Still— it would be embarrassing just to go back and tell him we chickened out." She shots back, hitting them right in the gut.

"Or do you prefer to be chickens?"

The two boys narrowed their eyes, "We ain't chickens."

She smirks, "Then a few Dobermans shouldn't be a problem." And taunted.

The boys gave her a pointed look and sighed, "fine." They grumbled simultaneously in defeat.

"Yosh." A half grin stretched across Ryoma's face as she motioned for them to follow her when she noticed the

security moving away from their vicinity.

"Kenya-san, Tanishi, do you have the maps?" She whispers to the elder boys. Kenya's head perked up as he remembered the sack that the coach handed him before they went into the cave. Both of the boys checked their own bags and Tanishi gave up halfway through, signalling he didn't have the item.

Fishing out the piece of paper from it's protective plastic covers,Kenya spreads out the paper as they huddled together.

"That drunk really thought this through huh?" Kenya muttered, half bewildered at the precautions the man made.

"I think he predicted we'd fall into the water, that demon." Tanishi grunted.

"We're close." Ryoma muttered, navigating between their current location and the surprisingly decent hand-drawn map of the camp.

A few minutes of snooping here and there, the three finally caught sight of the storage room. As they approached, Kenya opened the door and surprising it wasn't locked. The trio exchanged looks for a brief moment before shrugging, honestly they couldn't care less— it only made their mission easier.

"Lets go. Kenya-san, get the shampoos and conditioners, Tanishi you go and get the balls; I'll take care of the soaps." She instructed.

The boys nodded and scattered towards their respective assignments. Ryoma bagged in the soaps and regrouped with the team by the entrance. Seeing the full bags, the girl mentally checked the lists off in her head

"Mission one: complete!" Kenya proclaimed with a lopsided grin.

"Now we need that sake…" Ryoma murmurs, glancing at the direction where they just came from, trying to remember if there was an entrance they could use to get inside the dorms.

"Do you guys know anywhere we could get inside?" She asked the two.

"Inside huh…" Kenya mumbled, cupping his chin in thought.

"Hnnn….." Tanishi crunched up his face trying to think as well.

"Ah," The Speed Star's eyes lit up, bumping his right fist onto his other palm.

"Anything?" Ryoma asked curiously.

"How about that entrance by the courts?" Kenya suggested, "That's usually not locked since the others go in and out using that to practice during the evenings, remember?" He grins.

"Good thinking, Kenya-san." She smirks, "it's worth a try."

"Un!"

"Let's go." They hastened towards their new goal.

* * *

…

Courts

Running a hand through his short wavy hair, his fingers latched onto the piece of cloth constrainting around his forehead and yanked it off; crumpling the piece of cloth under his grip and used it to wipe off the tickling bud of sweat threatening to drop from his chin. His own pants filled the silent environment; the only sound he hears aside from the erratic thumping of his heart.

He heaves an irate sigh— heavens he's been restless lately. Ever since that incident regarding Ryoma, he found himself wallowing in sleepless nights more often than he should have despite the fact he _know_ s that she is indeed safe and nothing happened to her, there were many things keeping his mind awake.

Fuji being the sadistic bastard that he is, only vaguely informed him of the incident. It wasn't specific but enough to understand that something horrible had happened— but was prevented in any case.

The ever so smiling brunette had taken amusement relishing his veiled irritation from his lack of knowledge about what's been happening. Unfortunately for him, both Sanada and Yanagi has been unreachable as well as Niou and Jackal. Although he doubted that the latter knew of anything that happened— there was a possibility but it was highly unlikely. Knowing Ryoma and how prideful the girl can be, she would not let anyone else know of it unless if the situation called for such measures; henceforth, Yukimura stuck to Sanada and Yanagi whom he knows was there during the incident.

In spite of their rivalry for a certain emerald haired tennis player however, the two came into an agreement to keep this quiet as well.

That was the first and main reason. Yet also, he could not rub off any feeling of alertness inside him. His protective senses had been very active because of the recent happening and could only wish that his compeers would be there to keep a watchful eye on her.

His shoulders sagged, and he slumped onto the bleacher agitatedly. Relying on his teammates yet again, for a moment— after being released from the eerie white confines of the hospital, he thought he could finally do things himself without relying on his friends to do anything for him alike that time in the Kantou Championships. He _hated_ the feeling; although now, it was on different terms, Yukimura could not help but feel it was _still_ a familiar predicament.

' _If looks could kill, I bet she'd already had killed me with her glare if she knew what I'm thinking.'_ Yukimura thought grimly with a half-assed attempt of cheering himself up from the image of a pissed off Ryoma.

Regardless of his worries; Yukimura had a feeling Yanagi would do the job for him if not Genichirō. After all, Rikkai's data master had been long aware of his affections for Seigaku's female regular. He had an inkling feeling that Yanagi would protect her in his stead.

' _There's also Sanada.'_ Yukimura wasn't blind. He knew his best friend held feelings for one Echizen Ryoma but as of now, he couldn't really speculate how deep it went, especially after being rejected unsuspectingly by the dense girl.

Oh it had been a sight to see for all Rikkai and Seigaku regulars that afternoon when they had followed the Emperor and the Princess of Tennis.

Yukimura chuckles quietly to himself, throwing his head back, resting it on the elevated bleacher behind him; his gaze glazing over the starry sky above him. For a brief moment he took a second to admire how clear the sky was then wandered back to a certain girl.

Just then, he caught something moving at the corner of his eyes. Curiosity piqued, Yukimura straightens himself as it was followed by faint footsteps of what seemed to be more than one person.

His deep sapphire eyes widened when he caught sight of dark hair that shone of emerald under the moonlight. It was only a glimpse but he saw a female stature wearing white shorts and shirt and he could never mistake the shoes that trailed behind before it disappeared into the ajar entrance he once came from.

' _It couldn't be— Ryoma?'_ Yukimura thought, scampering to his feet and headed off to where he saw them disappear off to.

* * *

Inside

"Kenya-san, enter the numbers while I read it." Ryoma ordered him.

"Okay." Kenya sent her a nod, giving a thumbs up to signal her.

"Four, nine, four, eight, five, three." She recites, each number being put in by Kenya.

The door lets out a soft ping as the red light turns green upon verification and the metal door opens apart for them. The trio gave each other a high-five as a short celebration for clearing the stage, finding the password took time but thanks to Ryoma's good eyesight and thinking; she concluded the password was within the abstract painting _beside_ the door.

"Still— who would go through all this trouble setting these up?" Kenya mentioned distastefully.

"Probably someone who _loves_ these kinds of games." Ryoma quipped.

"Ugh, I wonder who." Kenya shot sarcastically.

"Let's gooo." Tanashi tuned them out and went ahead, followed by Kenya.

"But don't you think it's kind of fun?" Ryoma stated with a smirk, trailing behind as her eyes darted left and right on alert if traps may come unexpectedly.

"What is fun about this?!" Kenya hissed quietly at her.

"All the sneaking...and we could probably get caught at any time." She didn't hide the amused tone in her calm voice.

"Plus, It's a challenge. Always wanted to try out things like these in real life, although I may not look like it." She added dismissively.

"Heh~." Kenya hummed, eyes narrowing slyly.

"I never knew you were _that_ kind of girl, Echizen." He inwardly sniggered at his innuendo, hoping to see an embarrassed form of the usually stoic girl.

However, his hopes were lost when Ryoma simply blinked at him and shrugged. "Spy scenes are cool, what can I say." She says promptly.

"If I were to choose one of our team outings, I'd probably prefer Laser Tag or Paintball wars out of Pool or Bowling, I suck at those." She frowned, remembering the times where she fell victim to Inui's beverages due to the fact those games were her first time trying out. It was just unfair.

"And _none_ of Inui-senpai's juice would be included if one were to lose." She growls to herself, she just detest that damned torturous drink!

"Ngh...Somehow I'm glad I'm not in Seigaku…" Tanishi and Kenya chorused, feeling sick to their stomach as their taste buds faintly recalled the horrible aftertaste the drink provided.

All of them now groaned and hunched, clutching onto their stomachs, as their body reacted subconsciously just by the thought of the drink.

"Though— I can't imagine you playing anything other than Tennis for pass time, Echizen." Kenya commented.

Ryoma shrugged, "It's my only passtime aside from Tennis; most of my friends— _acquaintances_ ," she corrected herself, "—back in elementary never played Tennis. So being invited to events or outings, I would only go if it was either paintball or laser tag. At least it trains my body to be more agile."

The boys looked blankly at her, "I _knew_ there had to be a catch." They muttered to themselves, shaking their heads at the tennis obsessed freak.

"What?" Ryoma quirked an eyebrow, finding nothing wrong with what she said.

" _Nothing_." They chorused dryly.

"Che." She almost pouted, almost,

"Mada mada dane."

"You are." They pointed at her and she blinked at them innocently wondering _why_ it was her that was 'mada mada'.

Kenya took out the map once again, focusing on the task at hand. Having only stayed inside the dorms for one night; they weren't quite familiar with the whole place yet, let alone being able to maneuver around the perimeters without any guidance.

"Let's see, let's see…" Kenya mumbles quietly to himself as he deciphers their location.

After awhile, he concluded that he really wasn't fit for the job. So he calls to the only one in their group ever being intelligent enough to actually read a _blueprint_ of the dormitory.

"Oi, Echizen—" he stops midway as he spots _no one_ where the girl should be.

"—eh?" Kenya looks around as Tanishi begins to realize that the girl has disappeared, _again_.

"Ah, she was just here a second ago." Tanishi blinked.

"—WHERE IS SH—mphh!" Tanishi quickly clams him up in order to prevent getting caught.

"Oshitari! Shhh!"

"Pwahh!" Naniwa's Speed Star gasps for air the moment Tanishi released him.

"Huwaah...hahh...I swear….that girl _has_ to be Type B…hahh…" He griped out between pants, his complexion turning back to a healthier colour.

"In any case...she's always like that. Just like the last time." Tanishi scratched his cheek, "let's just continue, maybe we'll run into her after we get that Sake or we can look for her afterwards."

"For once you're thinking smartly." Kenya agrees with a sigh.

"I don't know if I should feel proud or insulted…" Tanishi grouched.

* * *

…

Somewhere

In a dark corner, Ryoma flailed continuously after being dragged away swiftly from Kenya and Tanishi by strong arms. She didn't see who it was since everything happened so quickly and for once she wondered who the hell would be 'kidnapping' her at this hour. At some point; her senses became alert upon remembering what happened a few days ago, however, she concluded that this person held no ill intentions by the way his grip on her was gentle; although strong.

It was just intuition.

Still, she did not like being held close for too long against this _tall_ individual's chest. Her peripheral vision could only make out a light blue shirt, albeit damp as well which made Ryoma think that this person was probably out training on his own.

"Mrphhh!"

"Shh!" That voice was familiar. Struggling to look up, Ryoma managed to catch a glimpse of dark wavy hair. There were only _two_ people she was familiar with that had such hair and Kirihara's was definitely more curly than wavy _plus_ the height depicted obviously enough that it wasn't Kirihara. This person was taller.

"Mphhshi?!" Her muffled exclaimed resounded throughout the empty corner.

"Mrrphhhuhh!" She tapped harshly on his hand over her mouth which he got the gist of and released her.

"—What the—Mmhhff!" He covered her mouth again.

"Calm down and don't be loud." He whispered quietly. She relaxed and stopped her protests, remembering she shouldn't even be caught.

Seeing her relax, he slowly removed his hand and gave her a sheepish smile.

"Hey." _Glare._

"Hey yourself." She coldly said, wiggling out of his hold and pushing him away lightly, trying to gain space between them.

"You're not...pissed are you?" He asked with a chuckle.

"Dragging me away like some kidnapper so suddenly—" she looks up at him straight in the eye— which she silently cursed— by the way— due to the fact she had to tilt her head about ninety degrees upwards because of the lack of distance between them, "—tell me, what am I supposed to feel, Seiichi-san?"

Yukimura looks down at her with a thoughtful look and nonchalantly answers, "Mah, gomen gomen."

"You're not a least bit apologetic are you?" Ryoma gave him a deadpan look.

"Not really." He gives a half grin which only made the girl sigh in dismay.

"Why are you up so late? It's already almost two in the morning." She asks him in a hushed tone.

"Aa, I couldn't sleep— so I found myself training instead." Yukimura scratched his right cheek lightly, giving her a sheepish look.

"I see." The girl mumbled, nodding.

"By the way, Seiichi-san…" Ryoma trails off, averting her eyes to the side, still trying to wiggle off some space but failing.

"Hm?"

"...Can we get out of this spot?"

Hearing her request, Yukimura recalled that they were between a pillar connected to the wall. Needless to say, their bodies were pressed up— in which Yukimura could honestly admit that he didn't think through. All he wanted was to snatch the girl away before the two could notice and hide her because he had a _lot_ of things to ask her as of now.

He jerked slightly away, heat suffusing his face when he realized his torso was pressed against her _chest_. Fighting back any immoral thoughts about this being his _chance_ to steal a kiss or two, Yukimura clears his throat and slides out of the space first rather stiffly; looking away, hoping that the dark environment could hide the growing heat around his cheeks. He wouldn't live it out if _anyone_ knew Yukimura Seiichi could be _flustered._

In all truth, he wouldn't bat an eyelash if it was just any one of his fangirls back in Rikkaidai; still, no girls ever got too close to him due to the fact that despite his gentle facade, he made sure that they wouldn't feel it was easy to just hog him down. He liked his own space, thank you very much.

But this was _the_ Echizen Ryoma.

The only girl to have every caught his attention and affections. The only girl who didn't act like any mainstream shoujo manga protagonist that his younger sister always reads.

This girl was different. She was strong and determined, cocky yet unthinkably charming and charismatic in her own ways. His type of girl to be exact. _Strong_.

"Sorry about that." He mumbled, coiling his right hand over the nape of his neck, eyeing her at the corner of his eye.

"...It's okay." Ryoma murmurs quietly, looking away awkwardly as well.

Deciding to break the silence, Yukimura finally asks, "what are you doing here?"

Ryoma blinks at him, finally meeting his gaze.

"Ah...Wait, aren't you surprised to see me here?" She quirked an eyebrow.

"I am, but not as much. I had a feeling you would come back, but not like _this."_ He gestured to her damp clothes.

Ryoma continues to raise her eyebrow at him because of the gesture. "... _this."_ She gestures to herself dryly.

"Yes, I mean— snooping around." He corrects.

"So you also know that the others and I are training," Ryoma states impassively, completely avoiding his question. "I thought only Shūsuke-senpai knew…" she trails off.

Yukimura's finger twitched slightly at the mention of Seigaku's tensai _and_ her being in first name basis with him as well. He still somehow finds himself jealous whenever the brunette's name escapes her lips.

"I do— in fact, I was the one who _told_ your captain and him." He says.

"How?"

"I happened to overhear coach Saitō and the head Director talking after the matches."

"Ahh.."

"Anyway," Yukimura heaves a sigh, "Mind telling me why you're here at this hour with Shitenhouji's Oshitari and Higa's Tanishi? You three aren't exactly the first trio I would imagine together." He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Ah...about that…" she combs her bangs over her head and exhaled, "we're on a mission."

"Mission?"

"Uisu, we were ordered to procure something for our coach, so here we are." She deadpanned.

" _Stealing?"_

"...I'd prefer you don't call it that," She looks away, "we've no choice. No Sake would mean he won't train us—that stupid drunkard." She mumbled the last part.

"Mm, you're stuck in quite a predicament. A drunkard for a coach eh?" Yukimura hums.

"Tell me about it." She snarkily replied.

"A weird ass drunkard." She clicked her tongue, remembering the times he gave them hell.

Then he remembers something, "ah, right— Ryoma." He starts.

"What, Seiichi-san?" He leans down, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I was aware of what happened a few days back...I want to know how you are…" He says, albeit unsure if he should have or not. However; all doubts were washed away when she have him a sincere smile.

"I'm fine, nothing bad happened."

"Really?"

"Yes...Thanks to Gen-san and everyone else who helped me that time." She says softly.

For what seemed like eternity, Yukimura released a breathe he didn't knew he was holding and slumped on her shoulder, wrapping his arms around her.

"I see...that's good to know."

"But Seiichi-san, how did you know? Did Shūsuke-senpai tell you? Wait— does everyone know?" He could sense the panic in her voice and he only held her tighter against his body.

"No, only me, I promise. It was Fuji and I that alerted Inui about your whereabouts. _Child of God,_ maybe I am—" he joked sardonically to himself, "—to be somehow blessed of being relieved from my anxiety these past days."

Ryoma did not really understand what the older boy was saying; but she understood one thing— Yukimura had been worrying about her. Honestly, she felt touched— not that she would really voice it out; it was too cheesy to put it verbally.

Instead, she relaxed into his touch and allowed him to stay like that until he felt like letting go.

"I don't really know what's going on, but it's okay, Yanagi-san and Genichirō-san along with my senpais are looking out for me in the mountains." She informed, somehow thinking it might comfort Yukimura even if she didn't know why he was so worried about her in the first place.

' _Because you're friends.'_ A voice at the back of her head told her and perhaps that was actually the case because if the roles were reversed, she would also be worried about her friends as well— even if she didn't prefer to be showy and vocal— she'll be there finding a way to look after them silently.

Yet somehow, a traitorous voice doubted her reasoning.

"Aa, that's good enough for me." Yukimura's voice vibrated against her neck. One last affirming hold, Yukimura finally straightens and looks at her with his usual serene smile.

"I have a lot to ask— but I think I held you off long enough." His statement suddenly reminded Ryoma of the task at hand.

Her eyes widened, and on cue; a bright red light lit at the far corner of the hallway where she came from. "Ah! Those idiots!" She griped but calmed when the alarms hadn't gone off yet.

"The timing couldn't be any more just." Yukimura commented with a disappointed sigh.

"I guess I'll have to go to them; who knows what they might do without my supervision." She mutters and the Rikkaidai captain nods.

"Alright."

"Jaa— I'll catch up with you _once_ I returned for real with everyone else, Seiichi-san." She gives him her usual cocky smirk that Yukimura grew fond with before turning on her heels to head to the direction of the red lights, yet pauses on her tracks when Yukimura holds onto her wrists.

"Wait—"

"Hn?" She looks back at him curiously.

"You know, Ryoma...call me 'Seiichi' from now on. Cut off that suffix." He told her with finality in his voice and a small grin.

Blinking for a second, Ryoma wondered for a bit what brought it up but shrugged it off. She didn't have any problems omitting suffixes; after all, it was the supposed type of culture she grew up with in America. Smiling at him, Ryoma nods.

"Jaa...see you soon, _Seiichi_."

And with that Yukimura allowed her to go with a content smile on his face. How his name sounded so natural escaping her lips was a memory he will never get tired of relishing.

"See you soon, _Ryoma_."

* * *

 _A/N: Hey! Finally I had time to update. Apologies for I have been a bit too busy with life itself that I could not find time to update any of the stories. On the side note, I really appreciate everyone who has made their interests in my stories known, so don't hesitate and drop by a review ;). I love you all! 3_


	8. Chapter 8:Just Another Day

**Take Two**

* * *

 _Description: Echizen Ryoma receives an invitation letter to Under 17 Training camp in Japan. Having conquered tournaments in the west, she flies back to Japan and set her sights in new heights. TokuRyo YukiRyoma FujiRyo_

* * *

 **Chapter VIII: Just Another Day**

Outside Camp

"Damn it, where the _hell_ have you been?!" Kenya bellows harshly at her, running for their escape.

Ryoma pondered for a moment if she should tell them, but later on, she simply smirks in response to the Kansaijin's frustrated remarks. Adjusting the drawstring backpack on her shoulder, Ryoma quickens her pace upon noticing the guard dogs gaining on them.

"Less talk, just run!"

"This is exactly _why_ I didn't want to do this in the first place!" Tanishi squeaked, running for his dear life.

"Oi Tanishi, hold out until we cross the river!" Kenya yells to the big guy slowly lagging behind them.

"I know that! But—shit!" Tanishi was cut mid-way when the dog almost bit his rear.

"—first bats, now dogs?! I've had enough!" Tanishi complains and unknowingly dashed past them leaving the two to blink after his fading figure.

Ryoma and Kenya exchanged glances, unconsciously slowing down in the process; but they were reminded when the dog managed to bite the tip of Kenya's shorts and ripped it off.

"GUAH!"

' _Fuck!'_ Ryoma mentally winces, feeling sorry for the Shitenhouji player.

"I swear I'll kill that coach when I get the chance!" He grits out as tears animatedly ran down his face, picking up his speed. He couldn't be bothered by the gaping hole on his short as of the moment.

"Well, we got him something _special_ —so you'll get your revenge soon enough." She sallies with her usual smirk.

Recalling what they put in his gourd, Kenya's face relaxed into a sly expression; exchanging a glance with her, mirroring her devious smirk.

"You're right," He giggles to himself. "Go to hell you goddamned coach!"

As soon as they arrived to the river, they saw Tanishi waiting for them at the other side, waving. Both Ryoma and Kenya used their agility to gain distance and jump over the stones protruding from the waters then landed beside Tanishi.

The trio took a moment to look back at the hounds, checking to see if they shrugged them off completely and sighed in relief to see the first dog stopping on his tracks and proceeded to bark at them.

They didn't want to wait for the other two to arrive so they quickly left the scene, they only had a few hours until sunrise. Fleeing deeper into the forest, Ryoma stops them for a moment in order to navigate if they were headed to the right direction.

"What is it, Echizen?" She hears Kenya question.

"We're headed on the wrong way." She answers, looking at her left; noticing the familiar top on one of the mountains.

"Here." Without any further words, she proceeds running to her left, deeper into the trees leading to the mountain.

Approximately almost two hours in, they had ten minutes overall interval to rest. They finally arrived at a shallow creek which they recognized to be one of the few water sources they usually used to get water from, depicting they were near.

They climbed the steep grounds without any problems despite their initial hardships from their first few days—but this improvement went unnoticed by the three who were too focused on getting back to their camp.

Shortly after, they arrived at the cabins only to find it empty. However, there was one person by the rock laying down lazily on top.

Recognizing the figure, the three stalked off to him and dropped the full bags in front, snapping their feet close, tilted slightly outwards and hand behind their back as if in the military.

"You're late." He gruffs out, sitting up.

Kenya saluted, "We're here to report! As you requested, we have managed to secure 100 tennis balls, 50 soaps—"

"Argh— whatever, I don't need to hear it." He groans, waving at them in a dismissive manner then holds out his hand expectantly.

"Moreover, where's the Sake? I need that."

' _All he really wanted was the Sake!'_ Kenya thought, vein popping on his forehead.

Ryoma masks a growing smirk on her lips as she hands him the gourd. Snatching it harshly from her hold, Mifune hastily opens it with a 'pop'; wasting no time and chugged the drink down.

All the while this was happening, the trio exchanged knowing looks and grinned to themselves— each one forming an imaginary scene of what might come next and the hilarity it would provide them. Oh, they just can't _wait_ to tell the tale.

A few seconds in, few gulps were taken. The gourd tilts higher to the sky and slowly their scheming faces turned confused when Mifune finished the drink as if it was normal. With a refreshed gasp as if refreshed, Mifune grinned and wiped his lips.

"Whew! That hit the spot!" He exclaims, grinning.

Stunned, the scheming trio blinked and exchanged glances; confused and disappointed. Noticing their change of atmosphere, Mifune raised an eyebrow at this and asks,

"What?"

Hearing his probing tone, the three jerked their attention back to him nervously and shook their heads.

"N-nothing!" Kenya and Tanishi chorused.

The coach did not seem fully convinced at first, but he digress. Shrugging to himself and seemingly being in a good mood for the day; Mifune lets them be and dismisses them, telling them to wait by the riverbank where the others were.

They hesitantly left, Kenya and Tanishi huddling next to her and spoke in a hushed tone.

"Hey, you put Inui's juice in there right?"

"Mm." Ryoma nods thoughtfully. She did put her senpai's vegetable juice inside instead of the sake, yet it was abnormal to think that their coach didn't even budge— let alone notice.

"H-He's a monster…" Tanishi bumbled.

"Che...and I was hoping we'd get to humiliate him…" she mutters under her breath.

"Tsk, same!"

" _Oi."_ They froze on the spot, turning nervously to the source.

"H-Hai?"

"Leave those packed sausages behind." He growled menacingly, sending shivers down their spine. Knowing they've been found out, Kenya and Tanishi tossed the sausages at him and ran, Ryoma following closely behind.

"Mada mada dane…"

* * *

U-17 Camp

Throughout the weeks of their stay inside the camp, Atobe Keigo had gotten to know most of his middle school peers, merely through observing them quietly from a distance.

The heir of a multi-billionaire corporation was observant, if anyone would look closely. Naturally people would assume he was the opposite considering the fact he seems to be often stuck up his high horse, however, Atobe was anything but.

Despite his pompous and flashy demeanor, lies a heedful disposition. It was no wonder in all honesty, Atobe was a captain, a king in his own school. Having such title requires great responsibility to live up to.

Even then, being a captain of a team, he was already pushed with the responsibilities to lead them to the top. He looked after his teammates and his juniors in his own ways, no matter how unobtrusive it may seem through his imperious ways.

Glazing his steel gray eyes across the table to the people occupying it with him, Atobe glides his fingers elegantly through the teacup handle; curling his index and middle finger around it with his thumb pinching it as support as he lifts the teacup from the saucer— taking a small sip of the hot drink.

A quiet morning it was, Atobe mused silently to himself.

Exactly six o'clock in the morning, just an hour and thirty minutes before morning practice commences. Most of his peers have more or less awoken from their sleep, probably taking a shower to energize their nerves. Although some probably were still oversleeping due to that unsuspecting alarm at the middle of the night.

' _The noisy ones aren't here yet.'_ The king allowed a smirk ghost his features as he relaxed at the peaceful ambience of the cafeteria.

For once, it was not rowdy unlike how it usually should have been.

The only noise that invaded his ears were the clanking sounds of silverwares and a few chatters from the others on different tables. However, there was one individual who seemed to be off his usual character since the beginning of dawn.

His gray eyes landed on his fellow captain seated across him. Studying his features, Atobe noted that the usual stolid, tousled haired captain displayed a behavior very much unlike him.

Analyzing how the navy blue haired captain had his cheek rested on his palm while his other hand lightly drummed against the surface of the table, eyes unfocused and seemingly staring off into space; Yukimura has been humming to himself inconsistently every now and then as if he was deep in thought.

Atobe's expression contorted into a frown, placing his teacup onto the saucer.

"You seem to be up in the clouds since this morning, Yukimura." He started, glancing at the Rikkaidai captain who seemed to have heard his statement.

"Hm? Do I?" He was met with an innocent blink from the older captain.

"Yes, obvious as daylight." He prompts, crossing his arms in front of his chest and flipped his bangs away snobbishly.

Tezuka merely glanced between them, staying quiet as he normally does.

Yukimura hums, relaxing onto his palm and tilting his head to the side as he averts his sapphire blue orbs away from him, a small tug of his lips showed.

"Saa…" He breathes out.

"Yukimura, this is unlike you," Atobe droned at the captain.

"Something happened?" He narrows his eyes at the blue haired tennis player.

"Nothing in particular." Was his response.

Atobe quirks an eyebrow, sending the blue haired captain a suspicious look.

"Is it really? You have done nothing but fiddle with your breakfast the past minutes since you've arrived." He points at the cold, untouched food in front of Yukimura.

"Ah." Yukimura looks at his breakfast, straightening his pose.

"Atobe, I never pegged you to be the nosy type." Yukimura chuckles, taking a piece of tomato from the plate.

"Ore-sama is not nosy," Atobe corrected, closing his eyes. "But…" he paused, staring at his tea.

"But?"

"Ore-sama just had an impression that you appear to be impatient about something."

He watches Yukimura closely as he spoke, taking notice of the slightest twitch of the older one's eyebrow. It was so miniscule to a point no one would be able to read him. Atobe lets out a disgruntled huff.

' _I guess this is where I should say, as expected of him.'_ Atobe flips his hair once again.

"Do I now?" The serene captain smiled, reverting back to his usual facade.

"Atobe is right, Yukimura." This time, Tezuka speaks up, looking at the Rikkaidai captain from his cup of tea as well.

Yukimura stays mum for a second, humming as he crosses his arms; leaning against his chair before giving a mild genial look on his face.

"Mah...let's just say that flowers are preparing to bloom."

His cryptic answer only left both Tezuka and Atobe to exchange confused glances before letting the other one be.

The blue haired captain will most likely never confide what's on his mind to them. Besides, they trust that he was responsible enough not to slack off of their goal in this camp.

Yes, he definitely was the last person who would.

* * *

Mountains

Dropping onto the grassy field, Fuji Yūta rolls from his stomach to his back against the ground, panting for air. The burning sensation from his body caused him to be a bit light-headed from the lack of oxygen. It's been weeks since they found their way to this hellish camp, ever since; his body never stopped aching from the time they began training.

Resting his right hand on top of his moist forehead, the youngest Fuji squints at the radiant blue sky hovering above him. He randomly mused how beautiful and tranquil it looked after a grueling regime, it was a fleeting thought that he never usually would think of in the past.

Yūta smirks to himself, how banal has he gotten? Well, in some sense, he can't blame himself for diving deeper into trivial stuff the past days. Essentially, they have a lot of free time to think during breaks due to the fact they weren't allowed to train on their own yet; apart from that, they're deprived from their phones— which is also something most of them use for past time if not playing tennis or training.

Therefore, having nothing to turn to; Yūta found himself reflecting on certain things, as well as random topics as well.

' _I guess this is what we call boredom.'_ He chuckles.

"Has training given you a few screws loose, Yūta?" A familiar voice that only belonged to one person spoke, joviality evident in her voice.

The younger Fuji tilts his head upwards to peer over the approaching figure from the shades of the woods, a bucket in hand. He sits up properly in response, eyes following her as she places the bucket between them; taking a seat on the grass as well.

"I thought you were heading towards the brooks with Sanada-san and the others?" Yūta asks the girl.

Seigaku's freshman regular tapped the water bucket next to her, "Drink up, can't have Shūsuke-senpai's dear brother die out of dehydration and fatigue now can we?"

He knew she didn't mean it in a way to irk him about his past inferiority complex to his brother. In any case, he was past that.

"I wouldn't die from something like this, stupid. " Chuckling, the youngest Fuji gladly took the bucket and drank from it, relinquishing his thirst.

" _Ah sou,"_ Ryoma shrugs, sighing. "Then thank god, because Shūsuke-senpai would go ballistic if he found out you dried up in this camp." She playfully derided with her ever so prominent smirk.

"We wouldn't know, brother would definitely also go crazy if the roles between us are reversed, Ryoma-chan." Yūta simpers, scratching his head at the thought of his own brother losing it if he found out all the grueling things Ryoma had to go through in the camp as well as the fact that she lacks privacy from the boys. He knew how overprotective his brother could get, what more if it was the girl he actually abhorred feelings for?

' _He'd definitely die of jealousy if he realizes we sleep in the same space as her…'_

"Hm? What do you mean?" Ryoma blinks at him innocently.

Yūta sends Ryoma a strained look, a bit bewildered at her denseness.

' _This girl is impossible.'_ He inwardly sighs, recalling the moments he witnessed his own brother drop subliminal hints to her and others, not so.

All those possessive gestures from his brother would be enough for _anyone_ to deduce what he actually felt for the girl—including the object of affection herself. Yet Ryoma was definitely aberrant.

It was baffling how much Ryoma stayed ignorant to all of his brother's advancements, no, not even only his brother— but by other boys who fancied her as well. The girl simply was a one-track mind, only containing of tennis and searching for stronger opponents.

"Exactly what I just said." Yūta shook his head.

At some point, Yūta was glad he got over her eventually, or else he would be suffering about conveying his feelings to her just like his brother.

"Idiot, I didn't even understand what you said." Ryoma rolls her eyes.

"When you probably should have." He replied, fanning himself by tugging his shirt's collar and bobbing it forward and back.

"Mah, there's never a time where Shūsuke-senpai isn't crazy though, no offense." She says flicking her wrist dismissively.

"None taken, I somehow agree."

"That's traitorous of you."

"Only agreeing to facts." He shot her a smirk and she mimicked his.

Comfortable silence reigned over the two. They relaxed on their spot as Ryoma copied the brunette who appeared to be fixated on the clear sky above. Yūta begins to feel nostalgic, call it a Déja vu if you may.

"If I remember correctly, it was like this when I first met you wasn't it?"

He could hear the grass shuffle beneath her.

"Hn, was it?"

"Aa, I was training myself to death and you came along." The ace chuckled to himself as he reminisced.

"Right, I remember something like that happening." She murmurs.

"You know," he begins, squinting at her, "I never got to thank you."

Curious eyes met his.

"Thank me for what?" She questioned.

"For straightening my relationship with my brother." He gave her a grin whilst she simply blinked.

"I did? When?"

"Knowing you, I suppose there's a chance you wouldn't remember," Yūta smiled sheepishly, "But when I told you how much I hated my own brother, you were so blunt with me— nobody said those words even. It honestly made me realize how much of a jerk I was to him, just because I had some sort of inferiority complex."

Ryoma smirks, "Give me more credit, I remember that part," She brushes her fingers through her hair. "It was probably one of the longest speech I said in my whole entire life."

"For real, you were being a real brat— couldn't help it." She scoffs.

"Oi, there are kinder ways to say that you know?" He retorts, almost pouting at her.

"Do I look like the type to sugar coat things, Yūta?" Ryoma drawls, resting her left elbow against her knee and cups her chin in a lazy manner.

He sighs, shaking his head, "Nah, you're not."

"Well I guess I should say ' _You're very much welcome',_ in this situation, right?" She shot him an ingratiating smirk.

"You're totally enjoying this aren't you?" Yūta stated flatly.

"You're thanking me, so I should be polite enough to reply." The half grin on her face almost made Yūta look back on _why_ he used to have a crush on her in the first place.

' _No, Yūta, you're over that...You should be helping your brother,'_ He reprimanded himself, ' _The least I can do for him.'_

"You're right, it wouldn't be like you anyway if you didn't react the way you did" He smirks.

 _Speaking of his brother…_

Yūta's smirk faded, pressing his lips into a thin line. He looks away from her, settling his sights onto the trees ahead. This action caused Ryoma to watch him with curiosity at his sudden change of atmosphere.

"Nah...Ryoma-chan…" he trails off, finding ways to word out his question.

"What is it?" Ryoma squints at the younger Fuji at the corner of her eyes. What was Yūta fretting about? He seemed restless…

"What do you think of my brother?"

"Eh?" Her eyes widened, surprised at the sudden question as Yūta turns to look at her fully in the eyes; his olive orbs staring right back at her with determination.

"What do you think of my brother?" He repeats.

"What do I think…" she trails off, blinking. "What brought this up?"

Yūta faltered for a bit, he didn't know how to exactly answer that question as well; he just somehow blurted things out before he could properly assess everything in his head. Averting his vision away from her, Yūta lightly scratching his cheek.

"Hn...well— anyway, just answer." He grumbled.

"Even if you ask me to answer...the question is pretty vague, Yūta."

Yūta soon lost his inhibition. It was now or never.

"Argh, I mean, do you like my brother? Yes or no?" He bursts out.

 _Silence_.

Yūta observes her closely as her constant impassive stare slowly lit up in realization at his emphasis. Her breath hitched slightly, a faint hint of pink arose from her pale cheeks.

' _Hah…'_

Ryoma's gaze soften once more, the rookie was staring out to the distance appearing to be contemplative but regained her composure.

A minute or two has probably passed, yet it seemed like forever to Yūta that he begun to feel a bit disconcerted at her silence. A blush formed on his cheeks, how embarrassing it was to actually confront someone regarding about their romantic interests? For some time, Yūta believed that he shouldn't have said anything.

However, it wasn't like he received negative results. If anything, that expression she held was anything but negative.

Because if memory serves him correct as well as knowing the ever-so-apathetic girl, she never exhibited that kind of expression to anyone else when questioned about someone. This is probably the first for him.

"I don't dislike him." Her quiet voice cuts into the silence.

"Eh?" He couldn't see her expression when she had her head turned away from him.

"He's a strong tennis player, so I don't dislike him." Ryoma adds. Yūta's eyebrows raised questioningly at her.

"Shūsuke-senpai has a lot of potential— if only he finds it in himself to actually go all out than withdraw with his habits of playing at his opponent's level," She says, standing up. "Maybe then, he'll be more interesting to play against."

Yūta sent her a blank look, "That's not what I meant—"

"—we should regroup with the others." She interrupted quickly, heading to the direction where she came from.

The youngest Fuji then knew, that Ryoma intended to avoid the subject. It seems that the infamously dense girl wasn't so dense anymore.

Getting up on his own two feet, Yūta took notice of the abandoned bucket. He picks it up instantly, smiling a little as he follows the mum girl before him.

There might actually be hope for his brother after all.

* * *

U-17 Camp

For the past weeks, Tokugawa Kazuya have been feeling a sense of impatience seeping through his very being. The normally calm and composed boy who would go about his own day training with a clear and focused mind; today was far from _focused._ In fact, his mind could pass up a mess— thoughts splayed out in every direction despite his attempts to stay on track with his training.

Pushing himself from his planking position, Tokugawa grabbed the face towel hanging around his neck and wiped off his sweat with a sigh. Although his thoughts were in disarray, admittedly; most of them travelled back to one girl.

He opened his eyes, standing up from the rubberized floor and sat on the bench, taking his bottle, popping it open and drank the water, quenching his thirst.

It has been weeks since the middle schoolers first arrived and equally the same amount of time since he had last seen the girl who irked his attention. The image of the audacious girl flashed in his mind, the way her eyes shone golden as she stared at him challengingly when she uttered out a declaration of a match. Her undaunted poise whilst she did and that small quirked of her lips all the while kept repeating itself on the older boy's subconsciousness.

After that image was another image of the girl. A completely opposite disposition from the bold and snarky demeanor when he had carried her to the bleachers after wearing her out from their rally. The peaceful face she had when she was not awake, almost as if she was an entirely different person.

But that was not all that acquired Tokugawa's interest. It was her skill.

Echizen Ryoma was special. That much he knew.

Stating facts without being a sexist, it was in fact true that not many female tennis players ever played in the men's league. There were a few pro tennis players that have played in mixed doubles and that alone was even rare, seeing as the circuits were organized separately by both ATP and WTA respectively.

For sure the emerald-haired girl was the not best amongst the group of middle schoolers, and perhaps she may never even be. Still— to be able to stand amongst these skillful younger generation that threatened to take _them_ away from their position in the Japanese team and having earnt quite the amount of respect from the boys— as he have observed— proved that she was a worthy player.

Echizen Ryoma was still young as well. Still being at the age of thirteen yet playing at such a level at her physique was a wonder for everyone who witness. Her body grows just as her potential grows higher if she doesn't stop training and refining her skills— he would be damned to find out in the near future what kind of player she will become.

Tokugawa breathes out, chanting to himself that he should not be thinking too much about the girl and instead focus on his training. He was halfway done. Grunting, he could not help when his mind wandered once again to the alarm that awoke him at dawn earlier.

He _knew_ what that meant.

He _knew_ that some of the dropouts had infiltrated the camp and done what he and a few of his colleagues from before had experienced during his days up at the mountain.

He did not have solid proof if Echizen was ever one of those who came to 'procure' supplies, but if anyone was _smart_ enough to have only alerted the security at the very last minute, it would have been the girl herself because for sure when he and his teammates had done it the last time, it did not go quite as well as he would have wanted.

Security was tight, the challenges were unbelievably and unnecessarily taxing— even to a point of being comically ridiculous. The first attempt had been horrible with his teammate smelling like food and worst enough, he wasn't sneaky and alerted the dogs. The first mission had them returning back to the mountain empty handed and thus the coach provided them no guidance until they actually succeeded in bringing back his much needed alcohol.

Most boys were one track mind, even those who appeared wise and smart. As far as he has seen amongst the middle schoolers, the _smart_ ones had remained inside the camp whilst the boisterous of the bunch were sent to the mountain. He knew as well that Echizen was some type of pillar to the others, one who keeps others on track in her own ways. Therefore he was half convinced she had been part of that procuring mission last night.

A smile emerged from his stiff face, ' _I suppose it also means they're almost coming back—given they beat those high school dropouts as well.'_ Then he would be able to see how much she has grown since their last encounter.

"Do not disappoint me." He mumbles to the girl as if she was there standing in front of him.

Unconsciously, his mind found peace. Thus, Tokugawa once again commenced his workout, this time— with more fervor than ever.

* * *

Mountains

"Say, why don't you _stop_ following me!" Ryoma growled, darting her vision to the grinning wild boy beside her who only laughed boisterously as he replied.

"But don't you feel better having someone with you?"

Ryoma rolled her eyes as they continued to run, "You're missing the point." She grunts when she hopped over a barring log along the path she took.

"What do you mean?" Kintarō yells at her.

"I mean it's better to be alone! Or else, it will make _us_ a likely target if we both flock together!" She groans internally feeling unlucky to be stuck explaining to the lunkhead following her closely from behind.

Just then another high-pitched whistle joined another from above, alerting the two. Snapping their visions to the sky, they saw two eagles circling around them before one dove down aiming for their balloon. Ryoma and Kintarō parried at the same time, picking up a stray chestnut on the way, Ryoma used it as a makeshift tennis ball to hit with her racquet in order to scare away the overgrown birds but her chestnut only collided with another before it could get to the bird.

"Now _what_ did I just say?" Ryoma mumbled sarcastically to herself then gave the redhead a pointed look, "and could you stop getting in my way?" She hissed.

"Whaaat?" Kintaro blinked, looking a bit scandalized. "I think that's my line!"

"What?"

"What?" The two faced off each other with a growl, almost forgetting about the eagles preying upon their balloons.

Thankfully, the bird lets out a cry during its attack therefore it was enough for them to be alert and evade it once again.

"Ugh! I can't afford to be distracted by you right now! I'm _not_ washing those linens!" She shouted, running off towards the woods and away from the clearing.

"I could say the same!" Kintarō seconds, following her.

A sound of a balloon popping echoed along the isolated area, followed by another one not long after. Ryoma silently prayed for their ill fates that await them so she had no intention of having hers popped.

"Over my dead body." She mutters under her breath as her eyes darkened at the memory of earlier when the coach had introduced the so-called 'game' to them. Each player had a balloon, tampered with a scent that draws the eagles towards them. Everyone was to flee around the mountain for who knows how long until the whistle blows signalling the end of the game and whoever had their balloons popped will face the punishment of washing fifty linens at the river. To everyone, washing big and thick cloths were a nightmare— most of the boys probably has never washed anything in their lives due to the fact they _rely_ on their mothers and or the washing machine.

She of course, was no different. House chores were her enemy.

It has been a good three hours since the game commenced and she has heard a lot of balloons being popped. For once, she hope none of them were her mates, and most would be the high schoolers. It would be fun to see them struggle for once after all the errands they had done for them.

With a screech, the bird emerged from the sky once again. Cursing like a sailor in her mind, Ryoma darted off from her spot once again, ignoring the boy following her.

* * *

 _A/N: Finally pushed this chapter out! And also, I could not help but point out real life facts when it comes to the rules and regulations in the official tennis tournaments, since I'm literally not one to ignore those type of stuff. Lol, gender bending can be a pain in the ass knowing it totally changes everything especially in the sports world XD_


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